


Twelve Days of Siblings

by Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)



Series: Silver Foxes, Fire Cats and Snowflakes [17]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Bambietta & Toushirou Twins, Drama, Family, Friendship, Gen, Gin & Toushirou - Father/Son (Biological), Past Rape/Non-con, Rangiku & Toushirou - Mother/Son (Biological), Sins of the Father
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25040125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari
Summary: Twelve one shots related to the twelve days of Christmas focused around the crack theory that Toshiro and Bambietta are twins.
Relationships: Bambietta Basterbine & Hitsugaya Toushirou
Series: Silver Foxes, Fire Cats and Snowflakes [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1849033
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5
Collections: Bleach: Toushirou's Parents Are..., Bleach: Toushirou's Twin is..., Platonic Relationships, Siblings





	1. Partridge

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - I don't own Bleach. Here are twelve one-shots for my theory that Gin and Ran are the parents of Toshiro and Bambietta. Sure, it is crack theory but I am having fun with it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A second Women's Society Talent Show comes up and Bambietta wants to participate... with Toshiro of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this one shot, the war is over, the Shinigami won and Toshiro knows that Bambietta is his sister along with who his parents are. The first Woman's Society Talent show was in one of Tite Kubo's omake.

The captain of the tenth division lay on his back, with the covers on his bed half way off. A soft snore was cut short as a light fell upon his face and he startled into a half state of awareness. His bright teal eyes opened up part way. Groggily he turned to see the door to the tenth division captain's quarters was open. He could also see the second bed that had come to be in the room a few feet from his.

His eyes closed and he groggily thought about the changes that had occurred during the war. His sister had decided to come and live with the Shinigami and her brother. The idea Toshiro had was that she would get her own room, but she had moved right into his room with him despite the fact he had made sure she had her own quarters.

She had insisted on having a _lot_ of sleep overs, which meant that she slowly moved all of her possessions from that room to his. The book shelves that held his books now had stuffed animals and toys cluttering them and some of his books were knocked over. He was also constantly having to pick up her clothing that she tossed every which way with two fingers and a funny look on his face.

Letting out a sigh, it was rather obvious that she was off doing whatever she wanted to do, which meant that he would have some quiet time to himself. He let out a deep breath, glad to have a day off where he could sleep in. Some things had been negative changes, but one of the positive ones was the fact Matsumoto could now focus on her work now that she wasn't worried about "forgotten" things.

He turned over in his bed and snuggled down into the pillow, his eyes closed shut when he suddenly felt something crashing down upon him, hitting him twice as it bounced. The person was across him sideways and he found himself opening his eyes slightly and moving his hand to touch the person, wincing from the pain of her hitting him. There would be a bruise there. "I'm sleeping."

"You need to get up." The girl stated firmly, causing him to groan.

"Baba-nee... its my day off and I don't have to go into the office at all." Toshiro groaned and twisted underneath her so that he was on his stomach. His face twisted to look at the door and saw that it was open slightly. "Let me get back to sleep. I'm tired." A thought passed his mind. " _Mostly because she is driving me nuts._ "

He pulled a hand under his head and closed his eyes. Bambietta though kept insisting that he wake up. "That means you can play with me all day though. So you need to get up now." The small taicho let out a groan. Today was going to be a long day. "Plus, that thing is today and I signed us up. Mama even helped me pick out outfits for us."

Toshiro suddenly found his eyes snapping open. He sat up, knocking his sister onto the bed. He looked at her and saw that she was dressed in a tuxedo outfit. Something she had been holding something in her arms. He placed a hand over his left eye, frowning at her as he tried to figure out was going on. Letting out another sigh, he spoke up again. "What is going on today?"

"The Woman's Society is having a talent show to make money. Aunt Nanao is excited about it, though she looked at me weirdly when I signed the two of us up a couple of weeks ago." The girl stated.

" _If I'm_ _in_ _the talent show, then who is announcing acts when they came on. That was my job the last time they did this."_ He let out a deep sigh. "So... why did you wait until _now_ to tell me?"

"Because you would have said no and now you can't back out?"

The small taicho could feel the corner of his eye twitch underneath his hand while his mouth twisted up. "That is cruel. What exactly are we doing?"

"We're doing a magic show!" His sister beamed at him, a smile spread across her face.

He took a deep breath as his eye continued to twitch. " _Exactly how does she expect me to pull of a magic trick when I haven't had time to_ _practice_ _any of the tricks._ " He then noted the fact she was wearing that tuxedo outfit. The outfit had pants, which meant it was for a male. Which meant... "Baba-nee... which one of us is the magician and which one is the assistant."

"I'm the magician and you're the assistant!" The female smiled at him, a rather large smile on her face.

"And what is the outfit that the assistant is supposed to wear?" Toshiro had the feeling he would not like the answer. Bambietta dived to the side of the bed and when she pulled the outfit up and held it up for him to see. He could hear his zampaktuo spirit laughing in his head and he found himself gritting his teeth.

The outfit was honestly meant for a female and was exactly like the outfit that Rangiku had worn before. It was a dark body suit that was without sleeves and pants. There was a pair of black slippers and a pair of bunny ears. He found himself frowning, again knowing where this conversation was going. His sister spoke up. "Isn't it cute?"

"Yes..." Toshiro narrowed his eyes. "I am not wearing that."

"Why not?"

The small male let out a deep sigh. "Because I am a guy and guys don't look good in that kind of clothing."

"I think you would look better in it then me."

Toshiro found himself suddenly pulling his knees up to his chin and covering his other eye. So far none of the other Shinigami had found out about his sister's fetish of wanting to dress him up as a girl. "Baba-nee, can I ask you something?"

"Sure?"

"Did Matsumoto tell you _which_ one of us would be wearing which outfit." The boy found himself burring his face deeper. She was also someone else who didn't know and the last thing he wanted was for their mother to think about whether he would look good in female clothing because there was a high chance she would come to the same conclusion as his sister.

"Mama just left them in a package on your desk. Since this fits me, that means the other is for you. She knows our sizes very well." Bambietta stated firmly.

"The only reason she knows your size well is she discovered you and I are the _exact_ same size almost."

"I'm taller then you by an inch." The girl frowned at him.

"Says the person who is always wearing _my_ clothing without asking _me_ if it is all right to wear _my_ clothes." Toshiro shook his head, knowing this was another thing that irritated him.

"But you'll look so cute."

"I'm going back to bed and I am not getting up until tomorrow morning." Toshiro flopped back down and buried his head under his arm.

"Why?"

"I refuse to dress up as a girl. End of conversation." He used that to tell her he didn't want to argue any more, but then he didn't expect her next move.

"I'm telling."

He suddenly uncovered his eye and looked at his sister. "What do you mean you're telling?"

"I'm telling Aunt Nanao!" The girl then sped off.

Toshiro cursed his luck and hurried to get dressed. Bambietta had taken the outfit with her and he knew the situation wouldn't be a good. He quickly felt for the fukutaicho of the eighth divisions reiatsu and hurried forward in order to try and intercept his sister before she could cause a major problem. He found himself getting there in time to see Bambietta putting on an act.

She was sobbing. "Toto-chan won't help me with our magic trick act!"

"That's..." The boy tried speaking up.

"Be nice to your sister. I mean, you don't have a reason to back out of this." Nanao stated.

"Yes... I do." The boy stated. "First, I didn't know about it until today. Second..."

" _How_ are you supposed to perform the tricks I wrote down for you if you haven't had time to practice."

"I know the assistant and magician's parts very well!" Bambietta stated firmly. She suddenly held up a stack of papers which covered Toshiro's outfit. "He's a child genius, so he can learn his part really quick."

"I guess so..." Nanao continued to frown. She turned to Toshiro. "Do you think you can learn the tricks by this afternoon."

"Yes... but..."

"Then there isn't a problem."

Toshiro found his cheeks puffing out. "Hell as if there isn't! Have you seen the outfit Baba-nee wants me to wear." He paused, realizing he had called his sister by "that" nickname. He took a deep breath, before turning to look away, his cheeks flushing up. "The outfit Basterbine wants me to wear is embarrassing."

"Well what is so embarrassing about it?" Nanao frowned.

"Do you have to see..." Toshiro tried saying, only to have his sister do something before he could finish.

Bambietta smiled, setting her stack down and showing off the outfit. "Don't you think Toto-chan will look good in this. Mama prepared the outfits."

"Shit..." As Toshiro felt his cheeks flushing up he could see Nanao's face suddenly paling.

"I think I should call your mother." The woman stated.

"Why?" The small female suddenly frowned. "He'll look better in it then me, so he should wear it."

Toshiro gritted his teeth, fighting back the urge to slam his head into the wall or do something else to relieve his frustration. A few minutes later Matsumoto came into the room. "What is it you needed me for Nanao? I..." The woman paused, looking at Bambietta. "Baba-chan. Why are you wearing your brothers outfit."

"See! I told you! She didn't mean for me to wear _that_ outfit!" The small taicho snapped out.

"But he would look so cute in it!" The small female held it up.

Matsumoto found herself biting her lip as she looked at him. "While I won't deny the fact your brother _would_ look cute in female clothing, him dressing in such clothing publicly is rather out of the question."

"Why?"

"Because I would never live it down! I am a _captain_ of the Gotei Thirteen, not to mention I don't want to be mocked for dressing up as a girl!"

"Oh, fine." It was then that Bambietta began to undress in the eighth division office.

Toshiro quickly covered his eyes with his hand and frowned. "Why do you always have to do this to me? I mean, come on! I'm _not_ a toy."

He peeked through his fingers to see her done, only to snap them shut when he saw her in her underwear. Bambietta had a frown on her face. "We're siblings, so I don't get what your problem is."

He then felt the outfit and papers shoved at him and he opened them to see her dressed in that ridiculous outfit. He let out a deep sigh, wishing things would go better. Nanao stared at him. "Would you like us to leave so you can change."

"I think I'll wait a bit to change. I need to read up on the notes you left me." He sat down in one of the chairs, keeping an eye on the clock. Eventually though Nanao pointed out it was time to get ready and he found himself heading back to his quarters to change before heading over to where the talent show was being hosted. His eye twitched as he watched his sister bounce around, getting looks from various male Shinigami. " _She should be back stage._ "

He then felt a tap on his shoulder. Momo pouted at him. "I know you two make a cute couple, but did you have to sign up with her for the talent show? I mean, it would have been fun to do a brother and sister act, because..."

"Hinamori..." Toshiro let out a deep sigh. "Basterbine and I aren't a couple. I thought you'd heard that she's my twin sister?"

Momo blinked a couple of times. "She's been here a month, so why didn't you tell me?"

"I've been busy." The small boy glanced away. "She drives me nuts and she's the one who signed me up."

"So cute! I know have twin baby siblings." Momo stated as she hurried over towards Bambietta in order to hug the small female.

" _Great... another thing I didn't need._ "

Eventually he went to the back to look at the equipment. On the list was a bird and he found himself suddenly blinking twice. Bambietta danced over to see him. "Did you find everything?"

"What is this?"

"A dove!"

"It's a Chinese Bamboo Partridge, not a dove." Toshiro folded his arms across his chest.

"It is much prettier then the white ones!" Bambietta leaned forward. "It's got this pretty reddish brown color and its feathers have a pretty pattern."

"Oh kay..." The boy shook his head at his sister. Soon they would be going on stage and he wasn't sure how things would turn out as he hadn't any practice on stage. Finally, their turn came up and he found himself going on stage. " _If I haven't practiced the tricks, there is a chance they won't work._ "

He found himself suddenly unable to speak, frozen there as he stood looking out at the crowd. Bambietta blinked a couple of times before speaking for him. His eyes suddenly blinked a couple of times, but he carefully preformed the tricks without saying a word and then they were done. He wasn't sure he liked the fact that Bambietta add libbed a few jokes. The few mess ups were less embarrassing.

After getting off the stage he found himself taking off without his sister noticing. He arrived in _their_ room and took the clothing off and changed for bed, before hiding under the covers. He dozed off and a few minutes later his sister bounced into the room. "We won!"

"I'm sleeping."

"Why did you take off!"

"Don't make me do that again." Toshiro stated.

"We've got a new pet, so we can do more stuff like this again. His name is Chiboo!"

Toshiro pushed the sheets off and found a small bird looking him in the face, his sister on her knees looking at him. The bunny ears were still on her head and he then buried his head under the blankets, an irritated sound coming out of his mouth. " _Why did my sister have to have to be as hyper as our mother?_ "


	2. Turtle Doves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bambietta gets the idea in her head to play match maker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty much the same scenario given in the notes last chapter. This includes the OC I created called Niklaus Gabrielli.

A soft snow fell outside the tenth division as Bambietta sat on the small couch and stared at the ceiling while her brother and mother worked on the paper work that needed to be gone. "When are we going to decorate for Christmas?"

Toshiro's head suddenly snapped up. "Why?"

"Because the decorations are pretty." The girl spun around so that she was leaning over the back. "I mean, it's our birthday and there are no decorations up."

The boy let out a deep sigh before opening up his drawer. He then got up and walked over and handed her a package. "Happy birthday."

Bambietta frowned, watching as he walked back to his desk. "Don't you take time off on your birthday?"

"I never have before. I didn't know until this year that it was my real birthday." The small female turned and began to sulk, unwrapping the present and noticing a pretty china doll that was four inches tall. She let out a deep breath and he spoke up from behind her. "You don't like it?"

"No. I'm just wondering if you ever take time off."

"Not really." Toshiro continued to walk.

Rangiku let out a deep sigh. "Your brother's life revolves around work. But we'll decorate later today. Sometimes I can get him to help with it on his birthday."

"Could we have a Christmas party on Christmas Eve?" The small female stated firmly, suddenly turning around. "It would be a lot of fun."

The small taicho glanced up, frowning as he did so. "No... I don't think it would be a good idea."

"Let her plan a Christmas party. She doesn't have anything to do." Rangiku stated, giving him a look telling him that this would keep his sister out of his hair for a bit of the time.

"We'll have a tree, a present exchange and mistletoe. Because it is so..." Bambietta found herself suddenly interrupted.

"What is mistletoe?" Toshiro suddenly asked, a rather confused look on his face.

Rangiku bit her lip. "Taicho... sweat heart. Mistletoe is a Christmas decoration and if your underneath it you end up getting a kiss."

"Yup! It is so romantic." The small female smiled.

The boy's face suddenly paled. "Yes... well..." His mind suddenly wandered and his cheeks flushed a deep red. "That seems like a ridiculous tradition."

"So... you don't have anyone you want to kiss?" Bambietta suddenly bounced over to his desk. "There isn't a girl you like? I have a guy I like."

Toshiro blinked a couple of times. "Who?"

"I like Yamada Hanataro." Bambietta's words caused her brother to suddenly stare at him. "Now you have to tell me who you like."

"Ku..." The boy shook his head. "You like the seventh seat of the forth division?"

"Is there something wrong with that? Something wrong with him?"

Toshiro turned his face away slightly. "You would drive him insane."

"Ehh..." The girl frowned. "Whose this Ku person?"

"That..." The small boy frowned at her.

Rangiku let out a deep sigh. "When are you going to admit that you have a crush on Kurosaki Karin?"

Toshiro's eyes went wide and he found himself yelling at his fukutaicho instead. "Matsumoto! Seriously, I've told you that..."

"I'm your mother. I know you have a crush on her."

"Does that statement work when you've been out of my life for sometime." The boy narroed his eyes at her.

"Not when I've known you for over forty years." Rangiku closed her eye and smiled at him.

The boy let out a deep sigh and got up. "I need to run some errands. Both of you behave."

Bambietta looked over at her mother. "Who is this Kurosaki Karin?"

"She's the Substitute Shinigami's little sister. The dark haired twin to be exact." Rangiku continued with her work.

"Is it all right if I invite her to the Christmas party then?" The small female asked.

The busty female paused without looking up. After a few minutes of thinking about it, she spoke up. "I don't see why not. Soul Society's rather accepting of Ichigo and his family."

Bambietta nodded her head.

**M**

Niklaus found himself wandering around tenth division in search of Bambietta. The Quincy was not pleased with the fact the Shinigami had won the war again, but the freedom he was given wasn't bad nor was knowing that the tenth division taicho was one of the _children born of darkness_. He came to the meeting hall and paused as he saw the tables moved to the side. Bambietta was putting the finishing touches on decorating. He frowned, not at all sure what was going on. "Does your brother know what you're doing?"

"He told me a few days ago that I could go ahead and have a party today." The female stated. "Oh, and thank you for the birthday gift. There is something I need your help with."

"So, you need help with the decorations?" Niklaus raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"No, I need help kidnapping someone." Bambietta blurted out. "Come on. We're going to the world of the living."

"Hold on..." The boy suddenly frowned, not at all sure he liked where this was going. He followed behind her. They arrived in the living world and he watched her pull out a pair of binoculars. "Are you sure that kidnapping the person is a good idea?" He glanced over at the house she was watching and found his frown suddenly deepening. "Isn't that the Substitute Shinigami's house? Are we kidnapping him? He's the last person I want to go up against."

"He's already got his invite and will come. We're after one of his sisters." The dark haired female continued to look at the house.

"Can't you do anything normally?"

"Isn't this normal?" Bambietta looked at him, blinking a couple of times. Niklaus took a deep breath, refusing to say anything about the situation. He watched as two small females left the room. The brown haired female was waved off by the dark haired female. When she was gone, the girl looked up at them, glaring at them.

"What do you two want?" The female folded her arms across her chest.

Niklaus suddenly tugged on Bambietta's arm. "I don't think kidnapping her is a good idea."

"You aren't supposed to reveal our intentions silly." Bambietta turned back to the girl and landed on the ground. "You're Kurosaki Karin, right?"

"What of it?"

"How would you like to come to Soul Society's Christmas party."

"Why?"

"Because Toto-chan will be there!" The longer, dark haired female beamed at the other girl.

"You mean Toshiro? Why isn't he inviting me himself?" Karin continued to frown at the girl.

"Bambietta... I don't think this is such a good idea." Niklaus shook his head. "If he doesn't know that she is coming, isn't he of all people going to be pissed off?"

"Because it is going to be a surprise."

"And if I don't agree to come?"

"We'll kidnap you. This is my Christmas present for him. Well, I have another, but I prefer this present."

"Fine, I'll go."

Niklaus found himself shaking his head. "This can't go well."

"Well, if it doesn't go well, we'll blame you. That is why I brought you along."

**M**

Toshiro was in his office working on his paperwork. Rangiku had insisted that he finish his paper work and had stayed up the night before doing the paper work so that he could go to the party. However, in doing so there was quite a few he had to redo as she had exhausted herself. Letting out a deep sigh, he suddenly glanced up to see his sister, her friend Niklaus and a third person entering the room. "Kurosaki?"

"Hi Toshiro."

"Yeah... exactly what are you doing here?"

"Ask her. It was her idea. She said if I didn't come willingly today she would kidnap me."

"It's his fault." Bambietta spoke up, a grin on her face as she pointed at Niklaus as Karin went and sat down on the couch.

"Do you actually expect me to stand up to a girl who can beat the crap out of me?"

"Actually, make that two girls who can beat the crap out of you." Toshiro noted the insulted look Niklaus gave him. "Kurosaki is..." He paused looking over at her. "How much has Kurosaki told you Kurosaki?"

Niklaus found the corner of his mouth twitching and he suddenly burst out laughing. Toshiro felt the corner of his eye twitch as the young man did that. Karin glanced up. "You mean what has my brother told me? You know that he hasn't told me anything?"

"Basterbine..." Toshiro spoke up, frowning at his sister. "I'm going to have to ask if you filed out the necessary paper work that allows Kurosaki to travel here from the world of the living?"

Rangiku bustled into the room. "I already filled it out knowing it would slip her mind. By the way Karin-chan. Your brother and father are in the room we're having the party in, so..."

"Wait. My dad said he was going to a Christmas party with other doctors." The small female folded his arms across her chest. She glanced over at Toshiro. "I get the feeling you weren't going to say anything because you weren't sure what my father or brother had told me."

"That... and I honestly felt it was their job to tell you." Toshiro let out a deep breath. "Since Rangiku said the wrong thing..."

"I really, really thought she had been told. Sorry." Rangiku blinked a couple of times. "I thought I finished the paper work."

"I'm just correcting your mistakes." The small taicho suddenly found the bag grabbed from his hands

"I'll correct them. Go have fun with Karin-chan. You don't get time to spend with her."

"I'm the taicho, so..."

"I'm your mother."

Karin looked at them without blinking. "I'm going to say I'm not surprised."

Toshiro let out a deep sigh. "Anyways..." He stood up and waved her over. "Perhaps I should just take you to the room so you can beat your father and brother up for answers?"

The short, dark haired female cracked her knuckles. "Sounds good to me."

"By the way, what about your sister?" the boy asked.

"I told Yuzu I was going to bag on the Christmas party. She knows I don't get along with those girls and I'm not fond of gossipy slumber parties."

"Me neither."

"No... you _are_ fond of gossipy slumber parties. You just don't like inviting other females and invite me instead. By the way... I think it is time you move to you _own_ quarters." Toshiro didn't notice the look on Karin's face.

"Hey... Karin-chan. Do you and your twin share a room?" Bambietta suddenly asked.

The small taicho suddenly spun around, his cheeks heating up. " _That_ is different! She has a _female_ twin, not a male twin."

"Just deal with it Toshiro. If she's as stubborn as Yuzu is, she is going to get her way. Save your arguments for the more important things that need to be won, otherwise you're wasting your energy." Karin sighed. They arrived at the door and she saw her older brother and father. She carefully walked over and kicked her father in the stomach but didn't do anything to her father. "Toshiro tells me that you owe me and explanation."

Isshin let out a groan while Ichigo pointed at his sister. "What is _she_ doing here?"

Toshiro hiked his thumb at his sister. Karin folded her arms across her chest. "So?"

"Well..." The eldest Kurosaki took a seat at one of the side tables. "I used to be Shiro-chan's taicho and he used to be my fukutaicho. This was before your brother was born. Also... I'm technically the head of the Shiba clan."

"Who can't take on his duties because he's waiting for you two kiddos to graduate from high school and maybe even college so that you can have as normal of a life possible."

Bambietta noticed Kukaku and hurried over to hug the woman who was sitting at another table with Ganju. "Do you like the decorating I did?"

"Yeah... uh-huh." The woman waved Karin over. "I should introduce who we are. I'm your aunt Kukaku and this is your uncle Ganju."

"Hi. It is nice to meet you." The female glanced back at her father.

"Don't worry. I've beaten him up well as has young Hitsugaya over there when we found out they were really alive. I hope you have fun at the party. You'll likely meet other Shinigami and other friends of your brother and father." Kukaku puffed suddenly on her pipe.

**M**

Toshiro found himself fidgeting. He didn't like the way his former taicho or the eldest Shiba female was looking at him. Rangiku also gave him a strange look, a smirk looking rather as if she knew something. Eventually the others filtered into the room and he couldn't help the fact that Bambietta seemed to be watching to see if something happened.

Thankfully, most of the people were going over to Karin and shaking her hand and giving her their greetings. He didn't know how she would handle being known as the Substitute Shinigami's brother. Bambietta went around whispering things into people's ears though, and people began to smirk and try to hold back their laughter while looking at him.

Letting out a deep sigh, he wandered around the room, fidgeting due to his discomfort. Karin finally came over, a frown on her face. "Toshiro... you have a problem."

"If it is about me not socializing with everyone, I'm really not good at that." The small taicho glanced at the ground.

"That isn't it. Look up."

He found himself glancing up to see a strange plant with ribbon. "What the..."

He felt a kiss on his cheek and his eyes went wide as his cheeks flushed up. Something clicked and his cheeks flared out in anger. "Baba-nee!"

"How did he know?"


	3. Hen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bambietta and Toshiro help Hanataro catch his chickens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same notes as the first chapter.

Every couple of months the small taicho of the tenth division found himself heading into the forth division for a physical. This time around Toshiro found himself accompanied by a shadow, a very noisy shadow that made it clear exactly where she was. He folded his arms across his chest as he walked. "I don't want you coming with me."

"Why not? We're twins?"

"I am not comfortable with the physicals as it is." Toshiro let out a deep sigh. He arrived at the gate for the forth division and headed in, only to find himself bumping into Hanataro as he entered.

Bambietta peeked around her brother's shoulder. "Is something wrong Hana-chan?"

"Why do you call him that?" The small taicho let out a deep sigh of frustration.

"He doesn't mind." Bambietta batted her eyelids at Hanataro, who began to fidget.

"I don't mind." The forth division Shinigami's voice had a timid tone. "The chickens are missing again. They got loose and I need to find them."

Toshiro let out a deep sigh. "I've got to get to my physical. I don't have time to play hide and seek with a bunch of chickens."

"Wait! Let's help Hana-chan catch his chickens!" The dark haired female's voice suddenly went up in pitch, causing both boys to suddenly flinch. She then tugged on Toshiro's arm. "Let's go back to the tenth division to get some supplies."

"Wait... why do you need to go get some supplies."

"We need chicken catching outfits and stuff to make traps for them."

"Wait! I don't want you to kill the chickens!" Hanataro held out his hand as Bambietta grabbed the sleeve of her brother's uniform and began to pull him back the way they came. "I spent a lot of time raising them for Unohana Taicho!"

Toshiro felt his sister pulling him along. " _I'll go along with this simply because I want to get out of having a physical today._ "

They arrived back at their quarters and Bambietta popped into the room they now shared to change. She came out wearing a pair of overalls, but no top. The small taicho felt his eyebrow twitch. "You can't wear that."

"But we're chasing chickens. Its as if we're spending the day on the farm and farmers wear overalls."

"If you want to wear overalls, then wear a shirt underneath. You're a girl."

"By the way, I couldn't find any overalls for you."

"That's all right." Toshiro found himself waving his hand at her. "I have to wear my uniform. Why are you so adamant about helping Yamada?"

Bambietta looked right at him, blinking a couple of times. "What do you mean?"

"If you're not doing something for me, you only do something for yourself or your own enjoyment."

"Chicken chasing is going to be fun." Bambietta hurried towards the storage area. "Let's get some boxes, rope and sticks. Oh, and food for the chick chicks."

Toshiro let out a deep sigh and walked after her. A loud crashing sound could be heard as the boy arrived at the doors. He opened the door and found his eye twitching from the huge mess that had appeared on the floors. His sister hurried out with the boxes in her arms and she spoke rather fast. "We can clean this up later."

"Yeah... I'll have to clean it up later or one of my subordinates will find it and end up cleaning it up before I get to it. This is going to make for a nice report for me to fill out later on." He then suddenly found himself paling. "If she's already done _this_ chasing chickens then what is she going to do when she actually tries to catch them." He let out a deep sigh and yelled after her. "At _least_ put a shirt on!"

"OK!" He walked back to his quarters and found her making an even bigger mess there, before grabbing a shirt. He slammed the door shut so he wouldn't have to see her change and glanced down at the items she had gathered to make the trap.

"I'd rather have the physical. I should ask her to examine my head when I do get in." The door slammed open and they were off again, headed back to the forth division. Bambietta went about setting up her traps just as Hanataro came up. Toshiro folded his arms.

"Why is she putting candy into a trap for chickens?"

"Because she is a highly intelligent individual who lives in lala land where intelligence is thrown out the window." Toshiro grumbled.

They went and hid and the trap went off. Hanataro frowned at them. "While you guys were gone, I happened to catch the chickens."

There was a loud sound of the trap going off. Bambietta blinked a couple of times. "I think I caught you a brand new chicken."

"I don't want any giant chickens."

"Don't worry. It is just the fukutaicho of the eleventh division. Who else would fall for a trap with candy in it." Toshiro found himself turning the corner, only to find his eye twitching. Bambietta was pulling on a red head of hair. "Abarai?"

"Oi! Who in their right minds would put candy here?" Renji grumbled.

"He took the candy like I asked him to!" Yachiru was laughing her head off, pointing her small finger at the red headed Shinigami.

Bambietta continued to pull. "See, I caught a chicken. It is a giant one as well."

"So... we were both wrong." Hanataro frowned. "It was a giant chicken that wasn't a giant chicken and Yachiru-chan was in fact involved."

Toshiro shook his head. "Let him go."

"He's a chicken!"

"Why do you keep calling me a chicken!"

"Because you gave in to a little girl! Chicken!"

"You're a little brat!"

"And proud of it!"

"I think I'll head in another direction." Toshiro turned around to see Unohana looking at him, her arms crossed. "I got detoured a bit."

"Yes. Heading in the direction of your physical is a very good idea."


	4. Calling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshiro gets called on his Soul phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this one the final arc hasn't occurred. Contains spoilers for chapter 520.

A soft snow fell outside of the tenth division window. The small taicho sat at his desk leaning on one arm. Paperwork had been forgotten as he sank into a peaceful bliss and the corner of his mouth was twisted up slightly as he relaxed. The peace broke as his soul phone went off and his mouth twisted back down into a frown. "Hello?"

The sound of breathing greeted him before a clicking sound was heard. Toshiro found himself blinking a couple of times. A few days passed and he found himself in the training hall of the tenth division. Each swing of the kendo sword swung down with a resounding swish. The sun shown through the windows into the room as the sun began to rise, hitting the snow upon the windowsill.

His frustrations from the day before slowly melted away, only to have his concentration be broken by his soul phone ringing. He picked the phone up from the side of the room, only to hear the breathing again. The person remained on the phone longer before he headed towards the door, pulling the black part of his uniform back on and then his haori.

Toshiro stepped into the office. His teal eyes glanced over to see that Rangiku wasn't in the room. He then headed back towards the area of the quarters. Letting out a deep sigh, he knocked on Rangiku's door. A rather groggy muttering sound came from the other side of the door. The busty woman opened the door. He held up his soul phone to her face. "Matsumoto, did you call my phone while I was in the training facility."

The woman narrowed her eyes at the phone. She then took it from him and fiddled with it, before spinning it around so that he could see the screen. "You just had to check the call log."

"I hadn't thought about that." The boy frowned at her before taking the phone away.

"That's the only reason why you woke me up this early in the morning?" Rangiku let out a deep yawn.

"So you have any idea who could be calling me and then hanging up before they say anything?" Toshiro looked at her, frowning as he did.

Rangiku in turn frowned. "I honestly don't know. Perhaps it was just a one time prank call?"

"Yeah, but this is the second time its occurred. It happened a couple of days ago." Toshiro glanced at his phone. "It's the same number as well and I don't recognize it."

"Let me know if it occurs again. I mean I want to know if someone continues to prank call you." The woman began to rub her eyes.

"I'll let you get back to sleep. Sorry for waking you." The small taicho turned around, only to have Rangiku speak up.

"Don't you need me to come in and work in the office?" Rangiku blinked a couple of times.

"Sure... get in when your ready."

**M**

A few days later another call came, but this time there was no silence after Toshiro greeted the person. A female voice spoke up, " _I see dead people._ "

"Excuse me?" Toshiro found his eyebrow's narrowing before he hung up the phone. He made to set the phone down next to his bed, only to have it ring again. He picked it up. "I don't think you're joke was funny."

" _The line was from a movie called the Sixth Sense. Haven't you ever seen it? It is a really good movie."_

Two bright teal eyes suddenly blinked at a rapid fire rate. "I... I'm not understanding why this conversation suddenly has switched to movies. I mean, you were prank calling me, weren't you?"

" _No._ " The female spoke up again. " _I've been wanting to talk to you for some time, but I couldn't say anything the last two times I called. I thought I'd start with a joke. You know... you're a shinigami and your a dead spirit but I can see you._ "

"This wouldn't happen to be Kurosaki Karin? Because this is a bad joke."

" _Who? You really need to watch the movie to understand the joke. It's a really good movie._ "

"You've said that twice already. Who are you?"

" _I have to go. I'll call you again sometime."_ The phone then clicked off. Toshiro let out a deep sigh, before setting the phone down and going to sleep.

**M**

The next time his phone rang it was at the most inopportune time. The small taicho was in the middle of a meeting when the phone went off. He blinked a couple of times in confusion. Yamamotto rose an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you have that switched off during a meeting Hitsugaya Taicho?"

"My division members know that I am at a captain's meeting. I don't know who could be calling me." Toshiro took a deep breath though, remembering that he had received the calls from someone he didn't know who possibly didn't know he was in a meeting. He began to fidget until the meeting let out. He then hurried to a quiet place and flipped open his phone and dialed the number.

Instead of getting a female voice, he found himself hearing a male voice. " _Who is this?_ "

"Hitsugaya Toshiro, taicho of the tenth division of the gotei thirteen."

There was a period of silence before the person spoke up. " _How did you get this number?_ "

"Someone called my using said number."

" _Don't call this number again. In fact, don't talk to her ever again_ " The phone clicked off and Toshiro blinked a couple of times. He flipped the lid shut and looked up in order to head back to his division, when he saw the taicho of the thirteenth division.

"It isn't usual for you to behave like you did during the captain's meeting. Who was the phone call from?"

The small taicho glanced away. "I don't know. Someone's been randomly calling me."

"Randomly calling you? Don't you realize that isn't a good thing?" Ukitake's face twisted up in concern.

"Yeah... I think I can handle the situation on my own. I'm not worried about it." The small boy glanced at his phone. "Plus... I think it is going to be over."

Toshiro watched as the man looked at him for a few more minutes before letting out a deep sigh. "If you're sure. Just know if you need any help you can come see me."

"I know." The small taicho headed back to do his office work and eventually found himself heading back to bed, when the phone rang. It was from a number he didn't recognize, but he picked it up despite the fact.

" _It's me..._ "

"You're calling from a different number." The small boy took out a deep breath.

" _That's because my uncle won't let me call you using his phone._ "

"I see..." Toshiro narrowed his eyes before leaning against the wall. "I don't think your uncle likes me. He said I wasn't supposed to call or talk to you again."

" _Uncle doesn't hate you. He's just... trying to protect you. Technically, I wasn't supposed to call you in the first place, but I really wanted to speak with, considering the fact you're..."_ There was a sudden silence. " _I have to go._ "

"But... you..." Toshiro heard the phone click off.

**M**

A few days later he received a call while eating his lunch at his desk. "Hello?"

" _Hi. Where did our conversation leave off?_ " The female voice asked.

Toshiro glanced up to see his fukutaicho sitting at her desk. He stood up and left the room. "You were going to tell me why it was so important to speak to me despite the fact you've been ordered not to."

" _Because... you're my twin brother._ "

The small taicho blinked a couple of times. "Is this a joke?"

" _No! I actually am your twin..._ "

"Is this some sick kind of joke?" Toshiro felt his throat tightening. "I died and came to Soul Society. I don't have any blood family." He found himself suddenly hanging up on the person, his teeth gritting together. For some reason he found his eyes watering a bit and he reached up to rub his eyes. It's a bit windy today."

He headed back to the office and sat down to finish his meal. A soft voice came to his ears. "Are you all right taicho."

He paused for a few minutes. " _She told me that if someone prank called me I should tell her. But... this really hurt._ " The small taicho put a smile on his face and looked up at her. "I'm doing fine."

**M**

A few days later Toshiro got a call. The number was from the same one as before. He took a deep breath and picked up the phone. "I really don't want to talk to you."

" _I'm surprised that you didn't block this number._ "

"I figured that you would have just found another phone to call from like you did before." Toshiro took a deep breath. "As I said already, I don't want to talk to you."

" _Because you think I'm lying about us being twins_ "

"I told you before, I died and came to Soul Society. The subject of blood family is a sore subject and I don't like people playing this kind of joke on me."

" _Please! Don't hang up!_ "

"What, do you have actual proof?" Toshiro snapped the words out.

" _We have the same birthday, December 20th._ "

"You somehow managed to get this phone number, so you could have gotten that information to." There came a period of silence and he let out a deep sigh. "Look, I'll just hang up if you can't..."

" _Wait... please don't hang up! I know I can't give you proof but I_ _really_ _want to talk to you._ "

Toshiro blinked a couple of times. "You can't call me during captain's meetings."

" _If I call you at bed time I'm likely to get caught. And you can't call me either._ "

"Then call me when you can. If my phone is shut off, it is because I can't speak to you.." Toshiro stated.

" _I have to go... I'll speak to you later._ "

**M**

Every so often another phone call would come. Sometimes Toshiro would find himself able to answer the phone, but other times he was able to answer. Not much was talked about, the female tended to be as annoying as Rangiku at times, talking about fashion and popular culture trends from the world of the living. He didn't understand a lot about what she said as she also tended to speak at a fast rate.

About a month before the Quincy attacked Soul Society, the phone calls stopped. Toshiro found himself irritated that they stopped, but soon forgot that they were in fact occurring. The war came and his mind focused elsewhere, but then the war ended and he began to think of the coincidence that had occurred. He found himself heading to a captain's meeting.

His hand brushed against his soul phone. " _She hasn't called for some time._ "

" _It was a bit before the attack came that she stopped._ "

" _You think that she is a Quincy?_ " Toshiro didn't push the thought as he headed in. He stood in line and pulled his arms behind his back.

Kyoraku spoke up at the head of the group. "The forty-six are discussing what is to become

"Some of the prisoners a children, including one of the Stern Ritter." The seventh division taicho's voice boomed out of the meeting hall.

Toshiro blinked a couple of times. " _If she is one of the Quincy... then..._ "

"The forty-six doesn't care they are children."

Ukitake spoke up, his voice straining. "So, we would condemn children to death?"

"Not that I care." Mayuri stated. He glanced around, looking at the other captains. "All right, so all of the other captains would in fact take issue with this."

"Then I can proceed in speaking to the forty-six to see if I can't get a pardon for the children. I can point out the fact that we are more then willing to go against their judgment as well?"

A few of the captains suddenly turned to look at the small taicho. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Kyoraku tilted his hat. "How do you feel about all of this?"

"If you're asking me if I'll join the rest of you, this won't be a problem." The captains still stared at him and he began to fidget again, his mind wandering off to the idea that his sister was among the group. He lest out a deep sigh. " _I died on plain of ice. I wasn't born in Soul Society. I shouldn't have any siblings._ "

" _But something is causing you to no longer believe this._ "

**M**

A few days later Toshiro headed to captain Ukitake's office. He knocked on the door and he went in. "Can I speak with you... privately?"

The older captain stared for a few minutes, then waved Rukia and the others out of the room. "This wouldn't happen to have something to do with what was upsetting you at the captains meeting Shiro-chan?"

"It was that obvious?" The boy frowned, before folding his arms across his chest.

"Are you feeling well. I mean, I know that the idea of killing children sickens me."

"It's not that." Toshiro glanced away. "Remember how awhile back I said I was getting calls from someone, but I didn't know who they were?"

"Is that occurring again?" Ukitake's mouth creased with worry lines.

"They haven't called for a month roughly."

"A month..." The man took a deep breath. "Hitsugaya Taicho, you told me that it was going to be over."

"I thought it was going to be over because the man told me that I wasn't to talk to her again. I'd called the number that day, but she switched to another phone."

"A girlfriend then?"

"No... I've never actually seen her face. She just... randomly started calling me every two to three days. She said..." Toshiro paused, before fidgeting again where he sat. "I guess I should bring up the fact I died on a plain of ice and came to soul society."

"You've told me that a few times." Ukitake frowned at the small child. "What does this have to do with anything."

"Well... my inner world is in fact a plain of ice, so it is entirely possible for me not to remember this stuff correctly. So, it is possible that I could have been born in Soul Society. But my being born in Soul Society doesn't explain..." Toshiro paused. "The person who called me claimed that they were my twin sister."

"How do you know she isn't lying to you, this person?"

"The thing is I don't know if she is telling me the truth or not." A small hand started to tap the mat in front of him. "But... for some reason I found myself questioning if I really had died on a plain of ice. I mean..."

Ukitake watched as the boy suddenly paused. "... you're referring to the fact your inner world is a plain of ice. You're thinking that you could have mistaken your inner world for the place you died."

"But that still doesn't explain how..." The boy began to fidget in his shoulder area before glancing down at the ground. "That doesn't explain how I came to be in Soul Society, or she among the Quincy."

The older taicho blinked once. "You mean... well, I understand what you mean. I..." There came silence between the two of them. After a bit the man spoke again. "Are you at all worried that you will be labeled a traitor because of your bloodline? Ichigo is also a half-breed between the two and in truth the Quincy and the Shinigami used to be one group. So you need not worry about that."

"Actually, I hadn't thought of it that far. I was just... wondering how we came to be separated."

"If what she told you is true." Ukitake frowned. "You don't happen to think that she is among the children?"

Toshiro swallowed hard. "Yes. I am actually."

"I'll speak to Kyoraku..."

"Don't! I don't want him to worry about this. I mean, he's worried enough about preventing the children from being executed."

Ukitake watched as the boy hung his head. "Why don't you take some time off until the decision is made?"

Toshiro opened his mouth, but then snapped it shut. "Until a decision is made about the children, but not the others."

"Why is that important?"

"I may have family members among the adults."

"You don't have to think about that if you don't want to."

"Except she spoke about an uncle." Toshiro frowned.

"I'll find out what I can." Ukitake smiled at the small boy.

"You don't have to."

"No, but you'll be fretting about it if I don't."

**M**

A few days later, Ukitake came into the room. "A decision has been made and Kyoraku told me to pass the word on to you."

"I thought you weren't going to tell him." Toshiro stated, blinking a couple of times. A raised eyebrow however caused him to shrink back.

"The forty-six is still going over the cases of the adults, but the children are not to even be considered war criminals. They've been released into the care of the seventh division and we'll be working on finding homes for them, some of which we hope will be temporary. Some won't be as we've found that some of them are orphans. Do you wish to come with me in order to try and find your sister?"

"I... if she exists, then yes. I do want to find her." Toshiro nodded his head at the man and he found himself headed to the seventh division. He blinked a couple of times upon seeing the seventh division taicho surounded by many of the Quincy children. He felt the corner of his mouth move. "Why do I get the idea that the seventh division captain is going to want to take some of them in as his own?"

"Yes... well. I'm not sure which one is your sister. I've learned their names and who they were among the Quincy, but that is about it."

"I'll recognize her voice." The small taicho sat down nearby and watched the children.

A dark haired girl suddenly glanced up, before speaking in a nasty tone, her nose wrinkling up. "What are you looking at."

"I'm not..." Toshiro paused, blinking a couple of times. "So... you don't know who I am."

"Obviously you're one of the taicho. I couldn't care less. Actually... I don't want anything to do with you."

"Yeah..." The small taicho felt himself pulled back.

"Don't. Her attitude is a bit... problematic, though... well, never mind."

"She's the one who called me." Toshiro frowned.

"Are you sure, I mean..." Ukitake paused, a frown spreading on his face.

The boy pulled his lips together. "They haven't had a chance to be near the phones, have they?"

"Well..." The older taicho paused. "They don't seem to trust anyone outside of the seventh division at this point." Ukitake then went over to the seventh division captain and whispered into his good ear. The other taicho shook his head, but then let out a deep sigh. The taicho of the thirteenth division headed back to the tenth division. "Stick around. We'll see if your idea works."

Toshiro began to pace and he knew that the girl was speaking about him with the other children and he received a few looks that made him feel uncomfortable. He watched as the seventh division taicho pretended to lose his phone. The dark haired female went for the phone quickly. One of the other Quincy children spoke up. "What do you need a phone for? There isn't anyone for us."

"I'm calling my brother."

"You don't have a..." The comment was interupted by a nasty glare.

"He was raised among the shinigami." The girl stated, dialing a number she memorized. The phone rang.

Toshiro quickly picked up his own phone. "Hello?"

"Hi... I know its been a month since we last spoke."

"I know that as well. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I'm... I know that there is no way that I can prove to you that I'm your sibling, your twin... but..."

"But what?"

"... I need to be truthful with you about something."

"You mean about the fact you are a Quincy?"

"How did you know?" The look of surprise caused her head to dart up.

"Your calls stopped a month before we were attacked."

"You don't hate me for that?"

"No... both sides lost people they cared for, did they not?"

"Yes... but..." Toshiro watched the female carefully as she started to pace.

"The shinigami are going to find temporary families for us, but I was hoping I could come and stay with you and who ever has been taking care of you?"

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind, though for the most part I take care of myself. I like the idea of being a family."

"So... when do I get to see you?"

The small taicho let out a deep sigh. "You've already seen me."

"What do you mean?" The girl blinked a couple of times.

"Take a good look around." Toshiro looked over and watched as she looked around. She suddenly saw him on his phone. She simple stared at him, a look of surprise on her face. The others started speaking with her, the females gossiping. He felt his stomach lurch and the stares from the other children caused him to glance away. He didn't realize that a hurt look had passed his face.

"Hitsugaya Taicho..." Ukitake's mouth twisted up into a frown.

"I'm fine." The white haired child's throat tightened. He began to walk off.

Something though tackled him from behind. "Toto-chan?"

"Toto-chan?" The older taicho's mouth twitched at the sudden surprise.

"Good god..." Toshiro felt his cheek twitch and the palms of his hands scraped up. "You're worse then my fukutaicho." As he tried to sit up, he felt the girl's arms wrap around his neck and her cheek press against his. The cogs in his mind began to think. "If you are my twin sister, then you must know who are parents are."

"No... I've only met uncle and grandfather. Grandfather is dead and I don't know if their going to let uncle live." The girl remained silent for a bit. "Uncle may know who they are."

**M**

Toshiro excused himself from the Quincy, only to find Bambietta following behind him with a smile on his face. "I really need to get to work."

"Yeah, but you said we can be a family."

"Yes... but I need to make sure that you have a room prepared at the..."

"We can share a room."

Toshiro felt his eye twitch. "Aren't we a bit old for that?"

"Of course not!"

Toshiro found himself letting out a deep sigh. He opened up his office door and headed over to his desk to finish his paper work. Bambietta suddenly glomped him from behind. Rangiku looked up. "Taicho, who is your friend."

"Umm..." The small taicho glanced up, his bright teal eyes blinking a couple of times. The look on his fukutaicho's face seemed a bit green.

"I thought..." There was a pause in what the woman said. "I thought you had a crush on Karin-chan, so why are you taking yourself a girlfriend?"

Bambietta bubbled over, her voice suddenly becoming high pitched. "Toto-chan's got a crush on someone?"

"Taicho..." Rangiku frowned.

"I'll be frank with you Matsumoto... she's..."

"His twin sister!" Bambietta blurted out.

The busty female blinked a couple of times. "Taicho... I thought you died and came to soul society."

"We were born here. Uncle said he tried bringing all of us back, but was only able to bring me home. Well... I guess this is home now."

Rangiku took a deep breath and buried her face into her work. Toshiro found himself struggling to get things done.

**M**

A few weeks later he was in a captain's meeting to hear the fate of the adults that were left. Kyoraku tipped his hat. "The forty-six has decided that they will pardon most of the Quincy, though some are deemed to be a danger due to their personality. They will need help ingratiating in. Well, some are already trained with shinigami powers, but they need people to help them make friends."

Toshiro let out a deep sigh and a bit later they were released. Ukitake tapped the small taicho. "Hitsugaya, would you like to meet your uncle? He has... some information he's shared with me that I think you need to know. Actually, I think you'll recognize him, so be prepared to still yourself. I would also like your sister and your fukutaicho to come."

"All right." The small taicho frowned, before heading with the captain to the thirteenth division. They headed to the tea room, and the small taicho flinched. He recognized the man sitting on the cushion as the person he and Matsumoto fought when the previous head taicho died. "You are..."

The man raised an eyebrow. "You are a bit surprised, but I honestly can't blame you."

"Your... your voice." Toshiro felt himself suddenly sitting down on the cushion across from the man. "Why didn't I recognize it before?"

The man took a deep breath. "You're mind wanders like your father's."

"And who was he?" Toshiro asked.

The man kept his eyes narrowed. "Do you know who I am Toshiro? The older captain's know already."

"I know you're one of the Stern Ritter."

"I guess it is better to ask if you understand who you are in relation to the Quincy. You know of our former leader."

Toshiro fidgeted slightly. "I don't really want to talk to him." He fidgeted a bit more. "Well, I've had someone reference someone by a rank they no longer have before."

The corner of the man's mouth turned up. "I referred to him as our former leader. I don't blame you for not talking about him as I'm honestly not fond of him despite my... our actual relationship to him. However, eventually you're going to find out about this relationship. I'm surprised that Bambietta hasn't said anything."

"She may have said something hinting at it, but she tends to... she likes to talk about girly stuff." The small taicho found his own mouth twisting up.

"Has she mentioned anything about other family members?"

"I'm mostly interested in our father and mother, but she did mention the fact..." Toshiro swallowed as realization hit him. "She said our grandfather was dead." He then fidgeted slightly just as Rangiku came into the room with Bambietta. "You mean our _grandfather_ is... was the leader of the Vandenreich."

"He was." Bambietta spoke up.

Rangiku suddenly flinched while Toshiro shook his head. "I'm not liking this."

"I don't blame you," the man said.

"I'm sorry, but you expect taicho to be happy about this news? I mean..." The busty female found herself interupted.

"You don't recognize me, do you."

"Why should she..." Toshiro found himself interrupted this time.

"What if I were to tell you that your father is a man you know as Ichimaru Gin?"

Ukitake placed a hand behind the back of his head. "Now, now, there needs to be more tack."

"Whose Ichimaru Gin?" Bambietta blurted out. She then frowned, noting the looks on the tenth division members. "Did I say something wrong?"

"I don't remember..." Rangiku's mouth moved, only to snap shut, shaking her head back and forth. "Taicho, I'm sorry."

"Don't... amnesia is amnesia. You can't do anything about it." Toshiro glanced at the tea that was now being served. "I don't think I want to know more at this point."

"Am I missing something?" Bambietta asked.

"Matsumoto Rangiku's our mother." The small taicho stated.

"But then where is our father?" The female meant to say something, but found a small hand clamped over her mouth.

"Tai... Toshiro, it's all right." Rangiku swallowed. "Your father died about a year or two ago. He..."

Their uncle spoke up. "Bambietta, your mother needs to think about some things. Be polite."


	5. Ring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bambietta has plans for her and Toshiro's parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The war has ended and Gin has been found as well as some of the Quincy incorporated into Soul Society social structure. Contains spoilers for chapter 520.

Toshiro had a folder under his arm as he walked down the halls of the tenth division. His ears picked up the sound of two familiar voice arguing. Letting out a deep sigh he slid the door open, his eyes narrowed at the two adults in front of him. "What are you doing?"

The looks of anger that were on the faces of the two adults melted into looks of surprise. Rangiku then smiled at the boy. "Nothing for you to worry about taicho."

"Don't taicho me. Ever since _he_ has gotten back the two of you haven't stopped arguing at all." The small taicho folded his arms across his chest as he watched the two.

"You don't need to worry about it Shiro-chan." Gin's mouth formed into that smile of his.

" _Don't_ go into me not having to worry about the situation. I shouldn't be acting as a parent to my own parent. I am not sure if I can trust you two in the same room with each other." He then glanced over at Gin. "Since you are _not_ a member of this division I suggest you head back to the one you are a member of until the two of you can cool your head."

The silver haired man opened his mouth to say something only for the boy to hold up his hand. "Uh-uh. I'm giving you a direct order and since this is _my_ division you have to listen." Toshiro watched as his father let out a deep sigh before heading out of the room. He then turned to his fukutaicho. "Care to tell me what you and Ichimaru were arguing about?"

"I told you, you don't have to worry about it." Rangiku stated.

The boy let out an irritated sound of disgust. "Never mind. Just don't let me catch you two arguing again. I have work to do."

"By the way... apparently Bambietta is looking for you." The woman waved her fingers in the air as if nothing happened.

Toshiro let out a groan before feeling for his sister's reiatsu. The location happened to be around his room and he opened the door in time to see her looking through some sort of magazines. "Matsumoto said you needed to speak with me?"

"Can't you call her mamma like I do?" His sister's face tilted up upon hearing his voice.

"How childish can you expect me to get? I may call her mother at times, but I won't..." The small white haired child found a highlighter suddenly thrown at his forehead. "Anyways, she told me you wished to speak with me about something."

"Yeah. Why aren't our parents married?" The girl sat up and pulled the magazine to her chest.

Toshiro raised an eyebrow as she saw that she happened to have a magazine about weddings. "...because our parents don't get along. I mean, what other reason wouldn't they be married?"

"But they had to get along at one point for us to even exist."

"They could have also been very drunk and not in their right minds."

"That was mean."

"No it wasn't. You haven't had to deal with their arguments of late. They're very good at hiding them from you." Toshiro went and sat down on his bed, only to find himself tackled to the bed and pinned down. "I don't have time for this. I have important work for me to do."

"Nobody has time for me to listen to what I have to say!" Bambietta's mouth twisted up into a scowl. "You don't seem to care that our parents aren't married."

"Lots of kids have divorced parents."

"They aren't divorced, they were never married."

"Fine... lots of kids have parents who had kids out of wedlock and never got married. Let's face the fact we're illegitimate children of both of them."

"Stop being mean!" Bambietta's voice raised a few decibels. "Don't you care that they are our parents?"

Two bright teal eyes blinked a couple of times. "Actually, I am still getting used to the idea of having parents. It's actually complicated what I'm feeling. You're missing my point."

"And what would your point be?"

"Whether our parents choose to get back together isn't up to us, it is up to them."

"I think otherwise. In fact, you're going to help me plan their wedding."

"No."

"Yes you are."

"Before you can even plan a wedding, they need to get back together."

"Then first you're going to _help_ me get them back together." Bambiettta's two small hands suddenly reached down and pinched his cheeks, forcing his head to nod.

"Just because you're making my head nod doesn't mean I'm saying yes. I am actually saying no." Toshiro grabbed her hands to force her to let go. "Plus, you haven't seen them arguing like I have. There is also the fact it is near impossible to get close to out father."

"That's just it. I don't believe that they are arguing and I think you're lying. I think you would rather have Hisagi Shuhei for a father."

"Sempai?" Toshiro blinked a couple of times again."No, that's not the problem. I've told you, it is hard to get close to Ichimaru. It's even harder now then it was before."

"I hug him every time I see him."

The small taicho's eyes narrowed. "Yeah... and you don't see him flinch when you do. He _lets_ you hug him because he feels obligated to do so, not because he is actually comfortable with it."

"Liar." Bambietta pushed away. "I guess one of my first tasks is convincing you that you're wrong. Until then I'm on my own."

"Well, now that I know _what_ your up to I'm going to be doing my best to make sure you don't do anything stupid." An eyebrow raised up as he watched her stick her tongue out at him.

**M**

Rangiku sat at her desk when the mail arrived. She shuffled through the enveloped until she came across one that had Gin's seal on it and opened it up to find and invite for lunch in a few days. A soft smile spread across her face, only for her to frown. She shook her head and put it aside. " _Well... I have been waiting for him to ask me on a date again ever since the war ended._ "

A few days later she found herself waiting at the restaurant and she couldn't help but notice the place wasn't spectacular, but then Gin had always had her pick the restaurants they went to before. She sat there waiting for him, only to find a piece of paper similar to her own invitation tossed at her. "I can't stay."

Glancing up, she frowned at the silver haired man. "What do you mean? Didn't you invite me?"

"No, I didn't. I would have talked to you about this sooner, but I've been... busy." Gin frowned at her, something she never liked.

"Yes... yes... I know your busy with _that_ , but _can't_ you take a break."

"I'm not ready... but I do owe you an explanation."

"How did you know it wasn't me who sent it?"

"If it had been in your hand writing I would have sent you a letter saying I could make it, but this... I had to talk to you face to face."

"You really don't have any tact, do you?"

"I'm sorry."

"But how did you know that I intended to invite you?"

"Because as I said it wasn't in your hand writing. It's in hers."

"So... our children planned this?" Rangiku let out a deep sigh before taking her phone out to call her small taicho in order to lecture him.

"No... she planned it. If he had been involved the letter would have been in your hand writing and you would be giving him one of _those_ lectures. But knowing her, she's likely dragged him along today and he's gone along simply to keep her out of trouble."

"I have been having to do more work now that she keeps him from doing division work." Rangiku sighed. "I'll talk to them. I might as well treat them to lunch." Looking up from her phone, she saw the nasty look he gave her. "Don't give me that look. Taicho hasn't done anything wrong, and as for Bambietta... she honestly meant no harm by this. Particularly since she doesn't know what is going on."

"What are you going to tell them?" Gin's eyes opened from their narrow state.

"If you stay, you can find out."

Gin let out a deep breath. "You know I can't."

"You have bags under your eyes. Go and don't worry. I'll keep it to what they need to know, if anything." Rangiku waved him off. She then spoke into her soul phone in a rather stern manner. "Taicho, get your butt in here now."

A grumbling sound could be heard on the other side of the phone and then she watched as the white haired child dragged his sister in by the ear. When he arrived at the table he frowned at the woman in an attempt to try and look professional. "I'm sorry Matsumoto."

"Don't worry... I already know whose idea this was and you orchestrated everything." What she saw next surprised her.

Bambietta plopped down in the seat across from her and began to bawl. "It's not fair."

"Excuse me?" The woman turned to look at the small taicho, only to watch as her son let out a sigh of frustration before sitting down in the other seat.

"She's mad because she wanted you and Ichimaru to go on a date."

"Why?"

"Because..."

Rangiku shook her head as the small female let out a hiccup and glanced at the other pair of bright teal eyes. Toshiro let out a deep sigh. "She wants the two of you to get married so we can be what she thinks is a normal family. I told her it isn't going to happen."

"You don't want me and Gin to be together taicho?"

"No he doesn't! He wants you to get together with Hisagi Shuhei because he'd rather have him as a father!"

"I never _said_ any of that, so _stop_ putting words into my mouth." Toshiro snapped the words out of his mouth.

"And how come the two of you are so cold to each other? He won't stop calling you by his last name and you keep calling him taicho!"

"See what I have to deal with?" The boy grumbled before having Rangiku shove a menu at him.

"Order something."

"I'm supposed to be on duty Matsumoto and since this little shenanigan of hers is over..."

"Hitsugaya Toshiro." Rangiku watched as he looked at her with a startled look. "Order something. We're having lunch as a family."

"Tousan isn't here."

"Yes... well, the three of us need to talk, so you are getting some mama time. All right?"

"Joy." The white haired boy glanced away, frowning as he did so.

"See! He doesn't care?"

"Taicho..."

"It's not that I don't care. You're the one who used _that_ obnoxious wording Matsumoto. I'm _not_ a little kid you know."

"Yes we are."

The two were suddenly glaring at each other and Rangiku waved her hands at the two of them. "All right you two. Bambietta, your brother may still be a child, but he also expects to be treated with respect as he is mature for his age."

"He just thinks he is." The small female crossed her arms in irritation.

Rangiku watched as Toshiro's eyebrow suddenly twitched. "Taicho? I was wording that for Bambietta. You do want some mother and son time as well as some controlled brother and sister time?"

"Yes." The boy opened up the menu and set it between the two of them. "Are you sure this is all right with you Matsumoto? This isn't cutting into your budget in any manner."

"No... I've actually got a lot saved up. I don't spend as much on clothes and stuff as I pretend to. It annoys you, so that's why I say I blow most or all of my money on frivolous things."

"Please keep in mind that you need to set an example for her. She's rather impressionable." Toshiro grumbled.

"I also kind of went nuts after..." Rangiku paused, causing Toshiro to glance up. Without saying it, she knew that he knew.

"What?"

The older female paused, biting her lip, but Toshiro spoke up. "She's never had to impress Ichimaru, but when he was gone she felt lonely and wanted someone to notice her."

"I don't want her to be with someone other then daddy though. I mean, I waited a long time to meet the two of you."

"Yeah. I know that."

"At least you knew you had a father and mother." Toshiro spoke up, only to find Bambietta snapping at him.

"There! There you go again! The other day you said something mean as well!"

"Do you mean the fact I'm still getting used to the idea of having parents?" Toshiro narrowed his eyes and let out a deep breath, blowing on the tuft of hair that had fallen over his eye.

"That! That is so mean!"

A sudden flair of rieatsu occurred and he suddenly turned and stuck his face into his sister. "Mean? You're the one whose being mean acting like you're the only one whose feelings are getting hurt by what is going on. At least you get to act your age while I'm stuck having to suck it up."

"It's mean because you said that you don't want to have parents."

"That isn't it!" The words came out to the point other customers looked over at him. Noticing this he let out a deep sigh and leaned on the table with his head on his hands bowed slightly. "You don't know how lucky you are Bambietta."

"You got to know mom and dad while I didn't!"

"Bambietta..." Rangiku took a deep breath. "Taicho..." The boy continued to remain as he was. "Toshiro?" Two bright teal eyes glanced up and she could see hurt that she had seen mirrored in another eyes recently. "We're family. This is something we need to talk about."

Toshiro let out a deep sigh and sat up straight. "You're lucky because you've always know that you've had a mother and father out there that care about you and you knew to be looking for them. I grew up thinking I'd died and come to soul society, abandoned by..." Toshiro looked right into Rangiku's eyes then. "I thought I died because my parents choose to abandon me because I was a freak."

"Yeah, but you still got to know mom and dad!"

"No, I didn't." Toshiro let a deep sigh. "I got to know them, yes... but not as my biological parents."

"So... how would you feel about your father and I getting married?" Rangiku asked rather suddenly.

"You're going to get married."

"No... not just yet." The woman frowned, crossing her arms just as the waiter came to take the orders.

"Matsumoto."

"There! He's not calling you mother!"

"He's in a public setting, so he has to maintain a professional demeanor" Rangiku sighed. "Plus, he's still getting used to this.

"Your question..." Toshiro spoke up.

"He wants you and Hisagi Suhei together."

"No I don't!" The boy snapped out, looking first at Bambietta and then the table before forming a semi ring with his hands. "I _don't_ want Hisagi as a father. I _hated_ the idea of the two of you dating when Ichimaru... when we all thought he was dead. Hisagi is my sempai from academy and I don't think we would ever have a father and son relationship. I know Ichimaru and I may never have that, but..."

"And what about the two of us marrying?"

"He doesn't want it."

"Bambietta."

"Actually, I've wanted it for a very long time... it was some time after I got out of the academy... I kind of day dreamed a bit that Ichimaru and Matsumoto might get together and might adopt me in. Except I figured the two of you would rather start your own family, particularly since Gin didn't seem to like me."

"He doesn't... he's always liked you a lot." Rangiku frowned at him.

"Yes, well... later on it seemed like you guys were nothing more then class mates and I gave up on the idea that you guys would officially get together. I still don't have any hope about it either considering his personality and how distant he is from everyone. I'm also still mad at him for taking off all those times he did."

"I'm confused." Bambietta frowned at the two. "Is this a counseling session or something?"

"And now I'm going to shut up." Toshiro folded his arm across his chest as the food was delivered.

"What I don't understand is why you and daddy can't get together. You get along fine. I mean, nii-chan is lying when he says you are arguing, right?"

"No... we've been arguing about... stuff. But it isn't anything for the two of you to worry about."

"But is that a reason for you not to get together. He and I argue a lot."

"Umm... yes..."

"There is a lot of healing that they have to go through. As I said, he has... had a bad habit of taking off on us and not being around, not to mention doing other things." Toshiro tapped the table while his sister began to eat.

"So... Mom has to forgive dad?"

"That's actually already done." Rangiku picked at her food a bit before eating, her eyes noting that Toshiro wasn't eating anything.

"Then you can get together. It's as simple as that."

"Its not just an issue of Matsumoto forgiving him." Toshiro tapped his eating utensils on the platter.

"You?" Bambietta glared at her brother, only to find him glaring back.

"No... he needs to forgive himself."

"How would you know?" The small female snapped the words out.

"Because I got my sadistic masochist whatever side from him." The boy grumbled before digging into the food and not saying anything more.

"Now I'm _really_ confused."

"Don't worry about it."

**M**

Toshiro lay in his room with his arm over his eyes. A few weeks had passed since the lunch date he had with his mother and sister. Rangiku had managed to arrange a sleep over at the woman's society and thus he had his room to himself. A knock came from the open doorway and he glanced up. "Ichimaru, what are you doing here?"

"I want to ask you something Shiro-chan..."

"If its about whether I forgive you for the things you did or not, while my feelings are still hurt I do forgive you. I forgave you a long time ago. Just... don't run away anymore."

"No... that wasn't what I was going to be asking you." The silver haired man's eyes were narrowed, but the characteristic grin was gone. "If there were a way you could be relieved of duty for the Gotei Thirteen and get to come back when you're older, would you take it?"

The small taicho sat up, shaking his head as the corner of his mouth turned up. "There is no way. I mean..."

"Regulation has always required that a minor have permission of a legal guardian in order to be a member."

"I had granny's permission."

"She's not your legal guardian anymore."

Toshiro found himself blinking a couple of times. "What you and Rangiku have been arguing about... it wouldn't be that she wants me out of the Gotei Thirteen?" He then looked down at the bed sheets. "Because... she wouldn't ever..."

"No... she wouldn't. I'm the one who wanted to resend permission."

"You?" The boy frowned, watching the man carefully. "You've not cared once before about my safety.

"Don't... don't say that I don't care unless you know what it was like to see Aizen slice you up not once, but twice and not being able to step forward knowing full well that if that man knew you were my child he would used you against me. He would have gone so far as to kill you."

"Then you are over being over protective."

"Ran-chan said that as well." Ichimaru frowned at the small boy.

Toshiro touched his chest with his fingers. "I've grown up a lot since you left. I grew a _lot_ since the Winter War."

"You can't take care of yourself yet."

"No, but I know now how to rely on others for help." The boy placed his hand on the bed. "I'll think about what you've told me, but the answer at this point is likely going to be no. Does Matsumoto know that you're speaking to me about this?"

"No... she wasn't pleased when I brought the subject up and she told me I was being paranoid."

"Not to offend you here, but you do indeed have mental problems that you need to deal with."

"That's the other thing she and I are arguing about."

"You mean she wants you to get counseling?"

"I am getting counseling. I've been staying at the forth division, helping out when needed, talking to Unohana a lot."

"Then what is..." Toshiro closed his eyes. "Its none of my business though."

"Ran-chan wants me to talk about _things_ with her and I'm not ready to talk." Gin opened one eye. "Actually, your uncle's been the one telling her how I feel about things."

"So... you're more comfortable speaking with him then you are Rangiku?" The boy shook his head. "This is supposed to be the woman you're in love with and yet you can't tell her how you feel?"

"What would you know about that?" The corner of Gin's mouth twisted up. "Seriously... you should just be hitting puberty." Toshiro opened his mouth to say something, then realized that man had found his comment amusing. He glanced away and folded his arms across his chest. The man let out a deep sigh. "I'd better get going."

"Wait..." The boy glanced up, his hands suddenly gripping the bedding. "You really don't know how much I've grown up since you've been gone, do you?"

The man paused, then turned back. "What's ya getting' at Shiro-chan?"

"You say I wouldn't know what I'm talking about because I should be just hitting puberty, but the truth is I started going through puberty right before you left."

"I'm sorry that I left you out to dry on that, but I'm not the best person to talk about this subject matter." Gin sighed.

"Yeah... obviously." Toshiro let out a deep sigh. "My point is you don't think I understand what I'm talking about, but I do. I'm still figuring out if I like her in the same manner you like mother, but she is my best friend and I want to be the one to tell her how I feel about things, not someone else."

The silver haired man's mouth formed into a circle before he glanced a way and let out an audible breath. "Does your mom know about this girl?"

"Does she know?" A white eyebrow rose up. "Matsumoto decided I had a crush on her before we'd had much interaction with each other. Even if I do decide this girl _is_ the person I want to be with its going to be awhile until I tell _her_ as she teases me endlessly about well... _that_."

The man glanced out at the moon. "If I were you I'd be more worried about your sister finding out."

"I'm more worried about Hinamori finding out, particularly since she's not happy sharing me with _another_ sibling."

"Where was our conversation going?"

Toshiro thought for a few minutes before speaking up again. "What is up with uncle telling her what you're feeling rather then yourself?" That doesn't sound right."

Gin suddenly frowned. "Your uncle has a way of... can I come in?"

"Yeah, you're my father after all so you really don't need to ask." Toshiro watched as the man flinched. "So you're getting used to being like a family as well."

"Something like that." Gin came over and sat on the bed. "Your uncle is mediating things between your mother and I."

"Oji-san isn't fond of ka-chan though." The boy flopped onto the bed and let out a yawn.

"Its more along the lines that he wasn't happy that I ran away with her. Actually, it was your mother who asked him to lend a hand as she wants things to go as smoothly as possible so that we can be a family and that's why he agreed to do it I think. No, it is why he agreed."

"And..."

"I'm not good at sharing my feelings with anyone, I think you already know that."

"Yeah, but you shared your feelings with uncle rather then mother."

Gin let out a grumbling sound. "That's because he knows what I'm feeling without me saying it. All he needs is the damn story and events."

"You two seem to get along better then Bambietta and I do."

The silver haired man flopped down beside Toshiro. "Shiro-chan... you, your sister and your mother shouldn't have to wait for me to sort out my problems. There is a chance your mother will decide to move on, perhaps Hisagi Suhei..."

The small taicho pulled his arms behind his head. "So... you're the person who put into nee-chan's head that mother was going to marry Hisagi."

"I might have said something in front of her."

"Really... I'm supposed to be the child and you're supposed to be the adult." Toshiro frowned. "Ka-chan has been waiting for you for over a hundred years. She's going to be more then willing to wait for you for another hundred years."

**M**

The next morning Rangiku walked on the wooden floor outside of the division quarters. Bambietta tiptoed behind her. "So, can we surprise Toshiro-nii?"

"No. He needs his sleep." Rangiku went over to the door which was still open. "I'm going to check to see..."

"What is it?" The small figure crashed into the back of the woman.

"Shush." The woman moved aside. "They're both sleeping."

"So... does this mean you and daddy are going to get married?"

"It's a step closer." A grin spread across Rangiku's face as she noticed the two figures a sleep on the bed. "It may be awhile. Give your father time."


	6. Goose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuzu decides to invite Karin's "boyfriend" to their birthday slumber party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kept working with this idea in my head and ended up combining a few of the working ideas, chopping them up and rearranging them until I got this. It's... rather interesting. Anyways, this takes place after the Thousand Year War. Also, the girl with the long pony tail is an actual character Tite Kubo created that never got named. She was introduced watching Don Kanonji on television with two small boys. The second girl is a manga only character and the third character is an OC to balance things out.

The small taicho's head was against the cool surface of the desk as he rested his exhausted body. Bambietta had kept him up yet again by chatting about random things he didn't care at all about. His eyes began to droop and he temporarily nodded off, only to be woken up by a voice that was all to familiar and identifiable. "I decided to stop by and see how you and Shiro-chan are doing Rangiku."

"Umm..." Toshiro's eyes opened slightly before closing as Rangiku spoke up.

"I know, I know. There is a chance he'll go ballistic when he sees me. I'm not in a situation where I have to worry about Karin and Yuzu's safety anymore, so I figure I'll explain things to him. Isn't it better that it comes from me." The comment from his former taicho causes him to suddenly open his eyes up slightly before widening.

"Well... yes." Rangiku's voice was straining as the small taicho stared at his office door. "What exactly is your relationship with Karin and Yuzu-chan, and I might add their brother as well?"

"They're my kids. What other relationship could I have with them?" Toshiro's head suddenly perked up at hearing Isshin's words.

" _Kurosaki Karin is taicho's daughter_? _"_ The boy's cheeks suddenly flushed up. He stood up to head to the door, wondering if this was a strange dream caused by the fact his sister had a habit of finding ways to drain him of all his physical energy.

"Taicho... I think you should stop speaking." The busty female's voice suddenly strained. Toshiro slowly walked over to the door that was partially closed.

"Why? They are safe now and all three of them have been given the choice of staying in the living world or coming and eventually living in Soul Society. Well, Yuzu doesn't yet..."

"Taicho... please. This isn't the time to talk about this." Rangiku glanced over just in time to see that a bright teal eye was peeking through the gap in the door. The door opened and the small boy simply glanced at the ground as his cheeks flushed up.

"Are you feeling all right Shiro-chan?" The man raised an eyebrow.

Toshiro glanced away, his lips pushing together tightly. "No... I'm not feeling to well."

Isshin blinked a couple of times. "That's strange. I mean, you admitting that you're not feeling well is strange."

"Yes... well, I'll be heading to bed as I am not feeling well." The boy turned his head slightly to Rangiku. "You'll make sure to get the paperwork done?"

"Oh, we'll make sure to get the paperwork done." Rangiku's eyes looked right at Isshin and her tone was demanding. She then watched as her small taicho headed off with his hands tucked under his armpits.

"I'm to help? Why?" Isshin shook his head at the busty female. "He's just not feeling well. He looks exhausted."

"It's not as simple as him being exhausted. You know as well as I that he will work through utter exhaustion until he passes out." The woman folded her arms across her chest "He over heard you say..."

"Ka-chan!" A small female suddenly came hurtling around the corner to latch onto Rangiku.

"Bambietta..." The busty haired female touched the dark hair with one hand, smiling as she did so. "I'm in the middle of a conversation here."

"I forgot to tell you something this morning."

"She calls you mother?" Isshin raised an eyebrow, only to have Bambietta suddenly glare at him and stick out her tongue.

"What is it that you forgot to tell me?"

"Toto-chan needs new pillows again." The small female blurted out. She then glared at Isshin again. "Who is he?"

"This man is your brother's former taicho." Rangiku patted the girl on the back. "Why don't you head to the kitchen and see if they have any sweets for you."

Isshin took a deep breath before folding his arms. "The last time you checked you weren't a parent."

The woman's eyes widened in surprise. "The last time I checked I wasn't a parent either, but apparently I forgot that detail."

"She looks to be around Shiro-chan's age." The man then found himself taking a deep breath. "She and Toshiro are twins and Gin happens to be their father."

"Yes." Rangiku took a deep breath. "I'll be back to help you with the paperwork, but I need to go make sure that taicho has new pillows so that he can rest."

"I got it." Isshin stated, stepping into the office and raising an eyebrow at the stacks of papers and toys strewn about that obviously belonged to the female twin.

**M**

Yuzu stood at the counter writing out the invitations to the sleepover she and Karin were having for their fourteenth birthday party. "So... Karin, who do you want to invite?"

"Don't worry about it." Karin stated. "I only have guy friends and none of them are mature enough to handle _this_ kind of situation, not to mention inviting a boy to..."

The brown haired twin interrupted her sister. "What about Toshiro-kun?"

"Toshiro? Well, he's not a pervert like my other guy friends." Karin set her came over frowning at her sister. "But..."

"Then you can invite him."

"Are you kidding me Yuzu?"

"No."

The dark haired twin pushed herself up from the couch before heading over to the counter and folding her arms across her chest. "This is a bad idea."

"Well, you haven't invited him over for a long time despite the fact he is your boyfriend."

"No he isn't."

"I figure he'd want to give you something special on your birthday, not to mention this will be so romantic."

"Yuzu..." Karin let out a deep sigh before a smile spread on her face. "Why don't we just go and ask dad if Toshiro can come?" She then went to the door between the kitchen and the clinic and opened it up. "Hey, dad! Yuzu wants to know if I can invite one of my guy friends named Hitsugaya Toshiro to our slumber party?"

"Sure..."

The dark haired twin opened her mouth to tell her sister that she had been right in assuming her father would say no, only to have the smile falter into a frown. "Say what?"

"I heard he has a sister as well. Invite her too." Isshin remained at his desk.

"He what?" Karin suddenly shook her head before hurrying into the room. "Now look here, I would think you wouldn't be happy with a guy our age staying the night."

"What what I hear too he hasn't hit puberty, so why should I worry?"

"See... dad is fine with it." Yuzu stated. "I'll make an invitation up for him and his sister just like dad suggested."

"Hold on..." The dark haired twin found herself hurrying up the stairs. "Ichi-nii!"

The door to her brother's room slammed open just in time for her to see him getting back into his body. "What ever is the matter?"

"Yuzu had the bright idea to invite Toshiro of all people to the slumber party!" The small female hurried over and stuck her panicked face right in front of her brother's.

"So? Dad will veto it." Ichigo pushed the young teen back. "So don't worry..."

"Don't worry? I actually asked dad as soon as Yuzu brought the idea up and dad said it was all right! The moron is fine with a boy Yuzu and my age being in the same house as a sleepover between a bunch of hormonal teenagers who would... for the best words, not make Toshiro feel comfortable at all. He _also_ said something about inviting Toshiro's sister and..."

"Which one?"

"What?"

"Which sister was dad referring to?"

"I don't..." Karin shook her head. "That is beside the point. He said its fine because Toshiro hasn't hit puberty. Yet I know full well that he..."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow as his sister clamped her mouth shut. "Don't worry. I already know he has a crush on you. I agree with you it isn't a good idea, but... seriously. If dad thinks it is a good idea he'll just invite Toshiro himself."

The small female let out a deep sigh of relief. "Then it is a good thing that dad can't see ghosts and knows nothing about Soul Society or how to find Toshiro."

The orange haired teen felt the corners of his mouth twist up. "So... dad hasn't told you yet, has he?"

"Told me _what_?"

The young man let out a deep sigh. "I found out before I lost my powers that dad was a former shinigami. I found out recently that not only was he a shinigami, but he was Toshiro's former captain _and_ we're part of the Shiba clan. You, me and Yuzu... we have the option of choosing to go and live in Soul Society because we're..."

Ichigo paused and Karin shook her head. "What, half breeds?"

"I'm honestly not sure how to explain it, other then our father is a Shinigami and our mother was a Quincy while she was alive. Its very complicated."

The small female flopped onto the bed. "This is going to be a disaster."

"You aren't worried about dad embarrassing you in front of Toshiro? Toshiro's had to deal with dad _long_ before I was born, so he knows how dad is." The substitute shinigami turned his head away slightly. "Though, to be honest I would be more worried about dad embarrassing Toshiro. Dad babies him _more_ then he does you or Yuzu."

Karin let out a groan. "No, see that was exactly what I was worried about. Toshiro is..." The silence remained for awhile. "He's different from my other friends."

"Yeah... he is different from the other kids your age." Ichigo tapped the desk with his pen. "Does dad know that Yuzu thinks Toshiro is your boyfriend?"

"On one side I wish he knew because then he wouldn't be fine with Yuzu and me inviting him over." The dark haired girl continued to stare at the ceiling. "On the other, the last thing I want is dad thinking he needs to kill Toshiro."

The substitute shinigami felt the corner of his mouth suddenly twist up into a grimace. "There is that."

**M**

Toshiro leaned on his desk, his face resting in the palm of his head as he looked at the paper work he needed to do. This morning he hadn't woken up with a head ache and he wasn't as exhausted as the other days his sister had kept him up. The ability to focus on the paper work simply wasn't there. A voice caused him to startle and look up at the door.

"Yo! Toshiro!"

The boy narrowed his bright teal eyes before letting out a deep sigh of frustration. "It's captain Hitsugaya to you." The boy's small fingers were tapping on the table. "So why are you here?"

"Karin and Yuzu's birthday is in a few days." Ichigo watched as the boy's face suddenly brightened up.

"Taicho, that means you can get Karin and Yuzu birthday presents. Sounds fun." Rangiku smiled at him.

Toshiro's mouth twisted from a smile into a frown. "I was going to say that."

"Well... there is a bit more to that. You and your sister..." Ichigo suddenly felt two figures brush past him and the corner of his mouth suddenly twitched.

"Which one of us?" Momo suddenly asked.

"I..." The orange haired substitute shinigami glanced over at Rangiku.

"Me of course." Bambietta spoke up.

"I kind of wanted to talk to Toshiro about this while you two weren't around." Ichigo felt the two girls look at him, their eyes narrowing. "And no, I don't know which one of you it applies to."

"Shiro-chan!"

"What have I told you Hinamori?" Toshiro shook his head. "Just spit it out Kurosaki. If it has to deal with one of my sisters then they might as well hear it as well."

"Well, Karin and Yuzu wanted to invite you and your sister to their slumber party for their birthday." Ichigo watched as Toshiro's face became white .

Bambietta however became excited. "That sounds like fun. Toto-chan and I happen to have lots of sleep overs!"

Momo however frowned. "I don't like the idea of Shiro-chan having a sleep over with a bunch of girls his age." She then turned to look at Rangiku before she left the room. "Of course, I expect your mother to say something about that."

"I'm honestly not sure I like the idea of him staying with a bunch of girls. He is a boy after all. And didn't your father object to this?" The busty female shook her head.

"Yes." Toshiro's head suddenly bolted up. "Taicho wouldn't..."

"He's the one who came up with the idea to invite Bambietta as well." Ichigo stated as he folded his arms across his chest.

The small taicho suddenly turned his head towards Rangiku. "Mama!"

The substitute shinigami blinked a couple of times while Rangiku tried holding back a laugh. "Why is it easy for you to call me mother when you are frustrated?"

Bambietta bounced over to the desk her mother was sitting at without noticing that her brother's cheeks were turning a deep red. "I want to go! I'll make sure he goes to the party!"

"Yes... well." The busty female glanced over at the boy. "I said no."

"But..."

"I don't want your brother staying the night in a room full of girls."

"He could stay in my room." Ichigo blurted the words out only to have his mouth drop upon realizing that he had said what he had aloud. Toshiro gave the substitute shinigami a horrified look.

"Please! Please, please, please!" The small girl was hopping up and down. "The only sleep over parties I've had have been with Toto-chan!"

Toshiro gave Rangiku an exasperated look. The woman in turn gave one to the orange haired teen while biting her lip slightly. "I still don't think it is a good idea. Kurosaki Ichigo however has pointed out the fact he will be there and I actually trust him."

The sound of air moving through the nose rapidly came from the small taicho as he glared at the substitute shinigami. The only thing he could do was give the boy an apologetic look. Bambietta however smiled. "I can pick out presents for them."

**M**

Toshiro scowled at his sister as she bounced along the sidewalk with only a small overnight bag while he found himself carrying his own tote bag along with her heavy luggage bag. "And why do we need to bring this much stuff? My tote bag is light compared to yours."

"Because! Don't you know how sleep overs work?" Bambietta bounced away.

"Nope. I don't know how sleep overs work at all." The boy found himself suddenly looking away, his eyes narrowed as he tried not to think about the headache that would be setting in before the night was through. "Plus, how do you know where you're going?"

"I'm following you!"

"No... you're walking ahead of me. If you aren't careful then you will get lost and I'm not coming to look for you."

"That's mean!"

"That's life."

Eventually though they arrived at the Kurosaki place. Toshiro reached up to knock on the door, only to watch as his sister opened the door and barged right into the room. "We're here!"

"Hey! Don't just barge into people's homes like that!" He found himself standing there, glaring after her and wondering if he should follow her in.

Karin though came up to the door. "Just come in Toshiro. You honestly don't have to knock at this house."

"See!" Bambietta popped up from the other side of the couch as the Karin dragged him inside and closed the door behind them. Te boy's cheeks flushed up as she gripped the cuff of his sleeve."There was nothing wrong with what I did."

"I take it this is your sister?" Yuzu piped in from the kitchen.

Toshiro watched as Karin's mouth twisted up and her eyes indicated she found the other girls behavior to be strange. "Technically I have two sisters. The other one is older and is the one I grew up with, but we're not blood related. This one is my blood sister, but we really don't know each other well despite the fact she acts otherwise."

"That's kind of mean to say." Yuzu piped up from the kitchen. "I mean, she is your sister. I wouldn't ever say that I don't know Ichi-nii or Karin-chan."

The white haired child found himself taking a deep breath. "That's because you grew up with your siblings. Baba-nee and I didn't know about each other recently."

"But we are now one big happy family!" His sister piped up. "By the way, where can I put the presents."

"You didn't have to bring anything." Karin shook her head as the female began to empty the over night bag onto the table.

Toshiro shuffled away from Karin as soon as she let go of his sleeve and stepped over to Yuzu. "Could you tell Karin I apologize for whatever is in my gift to her. I have no idea what Bambietta picked for them."

"You can tell Karin yourself." Yuzu remained oblivious to the fact the boy's cheeks flushed even more. She watched as Bambietta worked at unpacking the presents and frowned. "Are you sure the two of you are related?"

"Yuzu's right Toshiro. She and you don't look alike and you both act very differently. She's... kind of on the psychopath side of things."

The small taicho glanced up in order to speak with Karin, only to find his head darting away. "Umm... Yuzu. Could you tell Karin that our father was a psychopath?"

"How come you can't tell her yourself? Did the two of you get into an argument?" Yuzu folded her arms across her chest. "And isn't calling your own father a psychopath just wrong?"

"I knew he was a psychopath before I knew he was my father, so I'm calling him a psychopath because he is one." Toshiro could hear his voice suddenly shaking with frustration.

He suddenly felt his face grabbed so that he was forced to look Karin in the eye. "Or you are calling him a psychopath because you don't want to understand why he did the things he did and you're mad at him. The last time I checked we haven't had an argument, so why are you avoiding... ahh, I see."

"See what?" Bambietta bounced over from the couch and pushed herself between Karin and Toshiro. Her bubbly expression faded away as realization hit her. The next thing the small shinigami knew she was whispering something rather lewd into his ear that lasted for a few minutes of description. He felt his face suddenly pale as he felt his eye twitch and the heat creep up his neck and tips of his ears. When she was done he collapsed to the ground.

Bambietta then turned to Karin, her face having returned to the normal bubbly side. "So, where does Toto-chan need to put our bags?"

The dark haired Kurosaki twin grabbed the bags from where Toshiro had dropped them. "I don't know what you've said to him, but I'll be taking care of your bags. Let me show you around the place."

"Sure!"

The small shinigami found his mouth couldn't stop twitching. Yuzu tried shaking his shoulder before hurrying off. The next thing he knew Isshin had come into the room. "Toshiro!" The next thing he knew he was being helped up and to the couch by his former taicho. The man patted his cheek. "What ever is the matter."

The man received no answer and he nodded to Yuzu. "Why don't you make some tea?" After Toshiro swallowed the hot liquid down his throat he leaned back and closes his eyes. Isshin spoke again. "What ever was the matter."

"Baba-nee said something really bad." The boy frowned at the man while wrapping his arms around his chest.

"Mind telling me what she said?" Isshin watched as the boy's cheeks flushed a vivid red. "I see. I'll get you a wet cloth so you can calm down."

Before the wet cloth could touch his forehead though Toshiro felt two thin arms wrapping around his neck. He opened his eyes up. "Baba-nee?"

"Karin-chan says we can't stay in the same room." The girl snuggled closer just as Isshin got back and plopped a small towel onto his head. The boy closed his eyes as his cheeks flushed up again.

Isshin let out a cough. "Well, you are a girl and he is a boy."

"We're also twins so it doesn't matter. We have _lots_ of sleepovers."

"Umm..."

"She barges into my room and I can't get rid of her." Toshiro's head suddenly flopped forward. "She then keeps me up all night and I can't get any sleep."

The former taicho took a deep breath. "Baba-chan, I think you and your brother are old enough to be sleeping in separate rooms. Actually, you're old enough that you should be sleeping in different rooms."

"Yeah, but we didn't get to spend any time with each other when we were younger!" The girl let out a deep breath that tickled the boy's ear and caused him to jump.

"You both also need your sleep. You also need your alone time, the both of you," Isshin let out a deep sigh. "Otherwise one of both of you will become ill."

"I still like sleeping with him! He's my brother!"

"What?" Toshiro's eyes suddenly went wide upon hearing Karin's voice. He felt his cheeks suddenly flushed with heat just as his face lost its color.

Isshin raised an eyebrow. "Toshiro, why don't I go ahead and check you out in the clinic."

The boy let out an exasperated sound. He got up, only to find Bambietta clinging to him. "You can't come with me. Plus, don't you want to get to know Kurosaki's sisters?"

The female let out a deep sigh and he found himself able to escape to the nice cool clinic. He flinched though when the man brought out a stethoscope . "Humor me."

"You know I don't like check ups. I get them enough at the forth."

"You've also told me that you haven't been sleeping well." The man carefully listened to his breath. "You also had one of your panic attacks just now."

"Do you think the others know." The boy frowned as he watched the man and flinched as the cold metal touched his skin.

"No, I don't think Karin knows yet that you have panic attacks and likely thinks that Bambietta just exasperated you. Your sister is... hyper."

"That's a nice way of putting it. You know who our father is, so you can say that there are mental problems with either one of us."

"Do you like speaking of your father like that?"

Toshiro swallowed before glancing away. "I don't appreciate the lecture on this one. Is it possible to love and care for someone even though they did a lot of stuff to hurt people including yourself."

"Yeah, it is possible. You shouldn't stress out about it." Isshin removed the stethoscope from around his neck. "Well, it does seem as if you're physically fine, though I suggest that you take a nap in here until the party starts. I'll be sure to wake you up."

The boy flopped down onto the bed. "I want a nap badly."

"But not before you and I talk about the fact you are seriously crushing on Karin-chan." The man stated/

Toshiro breathed in a breath of air only to find himself choking. Isshin helped him up. "I'm sorry."

"So you aren't going to admit that you have a crush on her?" The man let out a deep sigh.

"I..." The boy closes his eyes. "I guess my tone had those connotations. I'm sorry because I've dishonored you."

"What do you mean?" Isshin shook his head.

"I did not say anything to you about wanting to eventually marry your daughter." Toshiro swallowed while he glanced at his feet.

The man suddenly ruffled Toshiro's hair. "That's rather blunt."

The boy pushed the hand away. "Well, aren't you going to want to kill me? I mean, I should have been clear when I saw you at the office last that I had such intentions."

The man let out a deep breath. "I'm the one who didn't think you had hit puberty. If I had any idea that you had hit puberty I would have sat down that day to talk to you. If it is anyone's fault it is mine. But marriage?"

"You don't want me to marry your daughter?"

"No... that's..." Isshin let out a chuckle. "I'd rather you marry her before you did anything sexual. Should you really be thinking about marriage though? Shouldn't you be thinking about dating her and making sure that is what you both want to do? And what if there is someone else that comes along? You shouldn't hold yourself to one person. And I'm also worried about Karin strangling you to death, or something."

"Kicking a soccer ball at the back of my head?"

"So you know about her temper and still want to marry her."

"The thing is I started liking her right around the time she kicked a soccer ball at the back of my head, but I didn't realize it until later on. I tried pushing it to the back of my head and not admitting it because at the time I knew there were not options for us being together. And then you said she could choose a future in Soul Society, which means what options weren't there now are. Believe me, I may have denied my feelings the last couple of years but by denying them I am quite sure I know what I want."

"And what are you going to do if Karin chooses someone else."

Toshiro glanced down, swallowing. "That is likely as I am now unable to find myself able to talk to her despite the fact I know what I want. We could be having rather normal conversations, but my mind focuses on other things. If I can't focus on things other then asking her to marry me, then..."

Isshin placed a finger on the boy's lips. "First off Toshiro, the first step isn't asking her to marry you. The first step is asking her to date you to make sure the two of you actually wish to proceed to marriage. Second, if you blab your feelings for her out and she gives you a bloody nose things will be fine. And yes, you do have my permission to date her and marry you. I trust you."

"Shouldn't a father be more protective of their children?"

"A child I've always thought of as a son wants to date my daughter. I _am_ being protective of my children. I'm just being protective of the one that needs it the most. Believe me, I trust you not to do anything and not to break her heart. Her on the other hand... I trust her to do something and I trust her to possibly break your heart."

"You know that this doesn't make any sense at all."

"Technically in this day and age you shouldn't be asking me for permission to marry my daughter, let alone date her. That's the way Karin would think and she wouldn't be happy with the fact that you dared asked me."

"But I didn't, you just gave it."

"But that was part of what was holding you back, that and you've come to the point you're ready to confess to her."

"I think she would understand."

"What?" Isshin shook his head. "This is Karin we're talking about. She is pro-feminist and would be insulted that you didn't come and talk to her first."

"No she wouldn't."

"All right. Get hit by her. I'd like to know where your logic is coming from."

"She'll figure it to be part of what I need for getting my confidence up to ask her. Though truth be told..."

"Yeah, yeah. You're not ready. Be forewarned though she might be way taller then you by the time you do and by the time you marry, well..."

"I'll have to deal with my height issue as well." Toshiro opened his mouth to say something, only to feeze and turn red in the face when he heard someone's voice.

"Dad... how's Toshiro doing."

Isshin shoved the boy down and tossed the sheets on. "I just put him down for a nap."

The door snapped shut and the boy popped up again. "Taicho!"

"Wow. You really can't talk in front of her." The man let out a deep sigh. "You're still dealing with your feelings. Don't rush it."

**M**

Toshiro lay on the bed lying on one side with his hands behind his head. He let out a deep sigh before dozing off. He woke up when Isshin shook his shoulder. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "All the quests are here."

The boy let out a deep sigh and stuck his hands into his pocket. He walked into the kitchen and noticed that the place had transformed while he had been asleep. Decorations were everywhere and the table had an extension put into place. He walked over to the counter and peeked around the corner. There was one girl with a rather long pony tail. Another girl had long black hair and another girl had a short hair cut that was curled into a semi-fancy style.

He remained behind a pillar watching the girls when Ichigo came over and grabbed his arm. "They won't bite Toshiro."

The three girls glanced up, blinking a couple of times. The girl with a pony tail frowned. "I didn't know there would be a boy here."

Toshiro found himself flinching as the dark haired girl spoke up. "I'm not sure if my parents would like me staying over if there is a guy here."

Ichigo hiked a thumb at his chest. "Your parents know that I'm here, plus Toshiro will be staying in my room."

"Me too!" Bambietta piped up.

Toshiro felt the corner of his mouth twitch and realized from the sound of a flushing toilet where she had been. "No, you're not."

"Ahh... we haven't been introduced to your other friends Yuzu." The girl with the short hair seemed to be eying him in a manner that made him uncomfortable.

"Actually, Toshiro is Karin's boy..."

Karin clapped a hand over her sisters mouth. "Toshiro's a really good friend of Ichi-nii and I, while Bambietta is his sister."

"Well, that explains why she wants to sleep in the same room as him." The girl with the ponytail shook her head. "Don't you want to hang out with us girls tonight?"

Bambietta blinked a couple of times. "I've never been asked something like that. Can we have a pillow fight?"

Toshiro made a slicing motion across his throat and shook his head, but Karin didn't seem to notice him. "Sure, why not."

"Yay!"

"Why don't we open up presents." Midori pushed her two packages towards Yuzu and Karin.

The boy watched as Yuzu got sewing equipment while Karin got a Manga. To his surprise his sister spoke up. "Hey, Toto-chan?" The boy flinched as the other girls looked up. "How come they're giving Yuzu-chan girly stuff and Karin guy stuff?"

Toshiro found himself flinching. "What do you mean?" He then took a deep breath. "Please tell me when you picked out their presents you didn't pick things for both of them that are girly?" He watched as his sister simply stared at him. "I shouldn't have let you pick them out. I knew I shouldn't have."

"I want to see what she picked." The female with the curly hair spoke up.

Karin reluctantly grabbed the packages that Bambietta had picked out. The dark haired female then spoke up. "By the way, the one she doesn't like the most is from you."

Toshiro narrowed his eyes. "What? Why?"

"Because she doesn't know me as well she's going to be even more forgiving of you then me?"

Ichigo sighed. "Actually... I think it works the other way."

Karin opened up one of the packages and Toshiro felt his eye twitch upon seeing a chappy stuffed animal. "Well... that's nice."

"It's chappy. It's _very_ popular."

"I've never heard of it." The girl with the curly hair leaned forward just as Yuzu opened up hers.

"I have one too, but mines blue rather then pink. Trade?"

"Sure..." Karin felt the corner of her mouth turn up before she shook her head.

The next things the girls opened were makeup kits. Toshiro felt the corner of his mouth twitch. "Bambietta... what were you thinking?"

"I got them what I wanted and got them what I knew mom would want."

"My parents say I can't wear makeup until high school." Midori sighed.

The girl with the pony tail also sighed. "I think all of ours have said that."

"Mine doesn't." The girl with the curly hair spoke up.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes. " _You actually_

"Oh..." Bambietta frowned. "Sorry... we're allowed to wear makeup already."

The boy suddenly found himself flinching. " _Did she have to say that in front of a bunch of girls?_ "

The girl with the pony tail frowned. "Why is a guy wearing makeup?"

Ichigo glanced over at Toshiro. "Umm..."

"Maybe he's some sort of popstar. That's why we never see him around school."

"What?" The white haired boy shook his head. "Actually, what is a popstar?"

"I'll explain later Toshiro." Karin continued smiling as if the day wasn't going badly. At least, in Toshiro's opinion it was going badly.

"If you aren't a pop star..." Midori frowned. "Are you gay?"

"Hell no. I happen to like..." The boy found his mouth snapping shut and his throat tightening.

"Karin-chan." Yuzu and Bambietta piped up. The curly haired female had a strange look on her face, almost as if she were disappointed.

Toshiro felt his cheeks flush up. The girl with the pony tail frowned. "You do have a crush on her. You've got it bad."

"Excuse me... I think..."

"You haven't answered why a guy is wearing makeup."

"Dinner and cake time!" Toshiro found himself trying to move away, only to find himself dragged back to the table to eat while Ichigo mouthed sorry to him. The girls chatted away and he drowned them out as they continued gossiping.

Ichigo sat down next to him. "Toshiro, why do you wear makeup."

"Silence came again."

Toshiro felt the corner of his mouth twitch. "It's good for covering up bruises."

Midori suddenly spoke up. "Wait. Is your guys dad abusive? You two haven't mentioned him?"

Toshiro's fork dropped to the plate as Bambietta spoke up. "I don't know our father, but my brother got the chance to know him."

"That's not..."

"Toshiro does a lot of martial arts stuff. He's also got a professional job."

"But he says that he isn't a popstar."

"Think of him like a taicho from a big company." Ichigo spoke up.

"So cool. You can't be much older then us."

Eventually though they were able to get away and Toshiro collapsed onto the bed. He couldn't fall asleep as the girls were giggling next door. "I didn't want to come."

"Sorry... I tried making it so you wouldn't."

"I know. My sister is my sister. What can I say."


	7. Swan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshiro goes to his sister's ballet recital and a bit of confusion occurs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one uses an AU setting.

A soft snow fell outside of the dance theater. Two bright teal eyes started up at the sign as the snow landed in his white hair. The boy frowned as his hands were placed under his arm, a bouquet of white daffodils under one arm. Letting out a deep sigh he headed in and glanced around at the people who were standing there.

"Toshiro?" The feminine voice caused him to startle and turn towards the dark haired female who had spoken to him. "What are you doing here? I didn't think you would be interested in ballet."

"Kur... I... its..." The boy raised his hands up in a panicked fashion. "It's not..."

Toshiro glanced down, his cheeks suddenly heating up red. The female let out a deep sigh as she scratched her head. "I've told you that you could just call me Karin. I know that you go to school with my brother and all, but you are around my age So, was the reason you came because your girlfriend is in the ballet."

The boy suddenly found his cheeks heating up. "It's not... why would you..."

Karin pointed a finger at the flowers that were under his arm. "Why else would you bring flowers? I mean, it isn't as if your mother is in this production. All of the dancers are around our age including the prima."

"The prima..." Toshiro felt his cheeks suddenly flush up again.

"I met her when I came to one of Yuzu's dance classes. She's very pretty, but there is something off about her that I can't place." The female crossed her arms and glanced away.

"Don't talk about..."

"Sorry, sorry." The corner of Karin's mouth twitched. "Just be careful Toshiro. She may have a pretty face, but she seems like the kind of girl who... well, just be careful."

"What do you mean be careful?" Toshiro frowned at the other girl.

"Aren't he two of you dating?" The female gave him a half smile. "Well, I'll be off. She's likely to be jealous if she sees me with you. So I'll see you later."

The boy blinked a couple of times as he watched her take off, his mouth twisting up from confusion.

**M**

After the performance Toshiro found his way back to the dressing room. He passed by a couple of girls who were heading into the main dressing room. "I can't believe her. She's such a prima dona."

"What do you expect? Her heads big because she is he prima. Not as if she deserves the part."

The boy let out a deep sigh and knocked on the door to his sister's dressing room. He then found the door opening so that he could see a pair of eyes that were the same color as his. "Toshiro! Why don't you come in?"

The boy let out a deep sigh before stepping into the room and sitting on one of the stools. "So... you get your own dressing room?"

"It's one of the perks of being the prima. It's possibly a good thing considering how most of the other girls think of me, me coming from a rich family and all."

"I was wondering why they were saying..." Toshiro paused.

"Saying what?"

The boy paled, then placed a palm on his forehead. "They said that you didn't deserve the part, but you danced your part to perfection."

"I'm from a rich family, so a lot is expected of me."

"So you don't enjoy dancing ballet?"

Bambietta blinked a couple of times before glancing away. "No... I enjoy dancing, but it would be nice to learn some other kinds of dance. Maybe some day I can learn traditional Japanese dance like you have?"

Toshiro glanced away. "That's something I would rather people not know about."

"But you like it, don't you."

"Yeah... but its not as simple as that." The boy set the flowers on the table.

"Grandfather says you can always come and live with us."

The boy let out an irritated sound. "The only reason he wants me to come and live with you is because he wants a male heir. He's made it clear he's worried about our parents unwed status getting out and ruining the family reputation. It's no wonder father changes his name. And I don't care about being rich."

"That's what I like about you." The girl smiled. The door to the changing room began to open.

Toshiro frowned as he turned to look at her. "What is it that you like about me?"

"I like the fact you don't care about money beyond what is needed to live day to day."

"Toshiro-kun?" Both glanced up and the white haired boy found his eyes going wide with horror upon seeing Yuzu. "How could you? I trusted both of you."

The door slammed shut and Toshiro felt his cheeks suddenly turning red as he glanced at the ground. He stood up and headed toward the door and opened it up, only to stop part way. "Can you believe that Basterbine is full enough of herself that she brought her boyfriend into her changing room?"

"She's not going to have the prima spot next year."

"Shit..." The boy backed up and sat on the stool. "I can't leave while they're there gossiping. If your sensai comes I'll just explain I'm a relative."

"Hmm... she already knows your my brother. As far as she knows you went to live with our mothers side of the family."

"Doesn't she think that is a bit weird."

"Nobody questions papa. That's just the way he is." Bambietta sat on the stool. "I need to forewarn you that while he's leaving the decision up to you right now about whether you come to live with us, he may end up forcing you to. And truth be told I don't think his reasons for doing so is because you'd be a male heir. You also are a child genius and would be graduating college in a matter of years. You could take over the company and he could retire."

"That's..."

The door opened. "See Karin! Toshiro-kun's cheating on you!"

"Yuzu!"

The door closed shut behind them and Bambietta blinked a couple of times. "You're Kurosaki Karin, Yuzu-chan's twin sister."

"Don't Yuzu-chan me!"

"Umm..."

"You said that Toshiro-kun would be taking over your grandfathers company. That's because he's betrothed to you, isn't it!"

"I don't see why this is any of your buisness. Normally you're a lot nicer then this." Bambietta frowned.

"Don't worry. My sister got the idea that Toshiro and I were dating when we're just friends. I'm sorry for the trouble." Karin's hand reached out to tug her sister's sleeve.

"She seems to have gotten the idea that Toto-chan and I are dating as well when we're not."

"Don't call me that!" Toshiro felt his fingers clench his pants legs.

"Yeah... but I called you that when we were younger, before..." The girl frowned before turning to the two. "Would it be all right if you two step out while I talk to my brother for a bit."

Karin's eyes widened. "Umm... sure. I need to straighten a bit of a mess my sister's started out there."

The door clicked shut again. Bambietta frowned. "You like her, don't you." The girl folded her arms across her chest. "The fact you're answering says you do like her."

"Don't... it doesn't matter. I realized how I felt right before I found out what family I'm a part of. Knowing our grandfather he's likely already has my whole life planned for me including who he wants me to marry."

"You don't plan on fighting it?"

Toshiro glanced up. "There are certain things I can't fight. I'll refuse to completely not marry before I drag Karin into this family mess. I don't want him treating her like dirt."

"Don't worry, things will work out."


	8. Milk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bambietta tries to make...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> None really.

The small taicho raised his arms above his head and stretched his muscles to relieve himself of the tension that was building in his shoulders from having to sit and do paperwork as long as he had. After the boy finished stretching he dropped his arms at his sides. His bright teal eyes scanned the room looking for the two females who were obviously missing.

Toshiro let out a deep sigh before standing up and leaving the room and heading through the door. In all likelyhood both females in his family were getting into trouble of some kind. The one likely getting into the worst trouble was his sister. Letting out a deep sigh again his feet made a steady rhythm on the wooden path as he headed to the kitchen.

His stomach grumbled in protest due to missing lunch and he let out another sigh as he opened the door to the kitchen area to head in and make himself something to eat. As he opened the door he found himself splattered with a cold wet substance. He blinked a couple of times as it dripped down his forehead from the top of his head.

His first reaction was to take his finger and stare at the substance before the corner of his mouth twitched in annoyance. He then turned to look at the dark haired female who was staring at him with similar colored eyes. The female's jaw was dropped open as Toshiro began to speak. "Bambietta Basterbine, what the _hell_ do you think you're up to?"

The small female frowned, before going over and wiping some more of the gunk off the boy and then sticking it into his mouth. He tasted a rather sweet milky flavor but continued to stare at her, wondering how all of this started. "I was trying to make a surprise because you're so stressed out."

"What?" Toshiro spoke as soon as she removed her female.

"This morning you told me you were stressing out about work.."

The boy glanced at the ceiling wondering back on the morning events as for once he hadn't remembered anything crazy happening, which in itself should have told him that such a disastor would indeed end up occuring. Letting out a deep breath he shook his head as he thought back about what had occurred.

That morning had started off without Bambietta being in his room for once. The small taicho woke up with one arm above his head and the light streaming in from an open door. A slight chill filled the room and he sat up letting out a deep sigh as his sister had obviously left early in the morning and taken off without closing her door on the way out. "I wish that she would sleep in her own room."

He then got up and prepared himself for work and headed into the division offices. He felt the corner of his eye twitch when he saw the rather large piles of work. He could blame the whole thing on Matsumoto's laxyness, but in truth she happened to be in the world of the living working on a mission. Letting out a deep sigh he sat down at the desk and began to work.

It wasn't long after that, that Bambietta showed up. The female's voice grated on his nerves as she chatted away about whatever it was that she wanted to talk about. Finally as he felt a headache coming on he pinched the bridge of his nose and looked up at her. "Nee-san... I really need to concentrate on my work."

"But there is nothing for me to do."

"Then find something to do. I'm stressed out enough as it is."

"Why are you so stressed out?"

"Because you keep interrupting my work, that's why."

"I see..."

That had been a few hours ago and now his stress levels were rising due to the sticking mess that was covering him, the division kitchens as well as his sister. "I really did mean only to surprise you. I heard from some of the other division members that you happen to like ice-cream, so I thought I would make some."

"Just clean up this mess." The boy sighed. He watched as she glanced at the ground. "And next time you want to try something like this find one of the division members to help you. Because while I appreciate the thought, this kind of mess only makes my stress levels go higher.


	9. Dance Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dance is held to try and smooth things over between sides after the war, but... it's not really anybodies thing. Of course, there are also misconceptions as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning - This contains mentions of past non-con/rape.

“Men.”

Bambietta’s eyes rolled into the back of her head, the thought of interacting with any of the young Quincy let alone the young Shinigami at the dance orchestrated by the new head taicho of the Gotei Thirteen in an attempt to solidify the supposed new forged alliance between the two groups; in reality, the Quincy lost and they lost badly and the so-called dance felt like an attempt at adding to the humiliation felt by their defeat at the hands of their enemy.

Nobody was allowed to dress in uniform, part of the attempt to make things seem somewhat normal. “Men are pigs.”

Bambietta’s head turned so she might look right at Candice who spoke similar words to what she just spoke, yet didn’t response given the fact – there was a time when she did speak freely with the other Quincy females, not bothering to check her dislike for the opposite sex and how they eyed her body which was mature for her young age, sometimes quipping about how she wouldn’t mind cutting any male in half with abandon.

Except, they weren’t on speaking terms anymore.

In the back of Bambietta’s mind, she wanted desperately to believe it was all her – that she was the one avoiding the other girls, yet – none made an attempt to speak with her, almost as if they found her disgusting; they likely saw her a spoiled brat who used to always get her way under the old regime, not in an alliance with the Shinigami, found her failure in the war am abomination if not outright the reason they failed or because of what happened between her and Gigi specifically.

No, as much as she wanted to believe the lack of conversation between her and the other girls stemmed from the fact they betrayed her. Letting Gigi have their way with her, yet…

Her lips pushed together, remember what she went through regarding Gigi wasn’t anywhere near as traumatic as what _he_ went through. Her eyes quickly alighted upon the small figure around her height, his locks of snow-white hair cascading around his head while he avoided interacting with anybody, including the other Shinigami, but her breath sucked in quickly, remembering how Bazz-B hauled the young Shinigami in.

“Oh. It’s that Shinigami.”

Bambietta’s eyes blinked, her eyes focusing on Candice, her lips pressing together, wondering if Candice was speaking with her. She said nothing, her eyes focused on the lack of dancing at the dance let alone interaction between the two sides. In the back of her mind, she didn’t know how to respond, particularly when the voice in the back of her head at times kept telling her she shouldn’t even be alive.

“You aren’t going to speak to me? I thought you were given…”

She found herself looking up at the girl, her mouth pushed together. The other two – Meninas and Lillotto – Bambietta couldn’t help but notice how they moved away, giving her looks she really didn’t want to try and decipher right now, not with everything else rattling around in that brain of hers. Her mouth opened, almost unsure of how she should respond to the other girl, her mind wondering if Candice was sizing up the males in the room deciding which one to have sex with.

The fact she approached, made sense, although… “I guess you’re…”

“I’m surprised any of you are even talking to me.”

Candice paused, glancing away nervously. “You know that…” A pause came. “I was about to say that.”

“Were you?”

“You know full well we’re not – weren’t…”

Bambietta looked the other girl up, taking in how she still wore rather revealing clothing, her stomach churning wondering how Candice could stand males ogling at her, let alone seeing her as simply a sex object, not to mention her letting them use her like one. She took a deep breath, her eyes focusing on the small Shinigami with white hair who seemed to move further away from everyone.

“I’m sorry. I should have apologized sooner.” Candice turned her attention towards the same Shinigami who Bambietta focused on. “If you like him, go for it. Just don’t kill the guy. Sex isn’t…”

“Stop. It’s not what you think.”

“Oh, come on. He looked rather cute in our uniform.”

“Which someone else dressed him in as if he were a doll.”

“Bambi,” Candice sighed. “Look. I can see why you’ve taken an interest in him sexually.”

“You really want to have sex…”

“Woah. Even I’m not that perverted, though I _can_ admit that I wouldn’t mind tapping that once he got older – old enough.”

Bambietta glared at her, pondering what she should say. “Biologically…”

“I don’t want to talk about what Gigi biologically is. I don’t want to talk about Gigi, but you shouldn’t talk about her, given the fact she’s out of our hair. The Shinigami weren’t fond of her either you know, but they actually were willing to take her to task for – certain things.” Candice hummed, her attention still on the younger Shinigami.

“My mother.”

“Her?” Candice’s smile faded, not at all, please. “I _really_ don’t…”

“Biologically though…”

“She’s mine and that Bazz-B’s sister.” Candice nodded her head as the young Shinigami slipped from the room, her voice filled with disdain for the two. Her elbow nudged Bambietta. “Now’s your chance.”

“It’s really not what you’re thinking.”

“Then why are…”

Bambietta’s vivid violet eyes glared at the older girl, before slipping from the room to follow after the Shinigami. She walked slowly, wondering how she should approach him. “ _I mean. Hey, I can’t really walk up to him and say, oh – Gigi turned us both into zombies, or hey, I was there when they dragged you in and dressed you up like a doll, because…_ ”

Her eyes blinked, stopping as he turned so he leaned up against the wall, his eyes closing as a sigh of relief escaping from his lips, his hands gripping his arms so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He slowly sunk down, sliding to the ground from a height around her own to a position where his knees pulled up to his chest protectively. His entire body trembled, but he also looked small.

She stepped over, her mouth clamping tightly shut.

For most of her life, she thought of men as sexist pigs – sexist pigs of course Candice didn’t mind calling out yet in the same vein didn’t mind having sex with, something she would never understand. Her stomach churned _thinking_ about men ogling her, but her stomach also churned remembering the look on his face. “ _Gigi went farther. She went farther than me, but…_ ”

“Hitsugaya…”

Bambietta startled, her head turning towards another male Shinigami while the Shinigami she attempted following, fully intending to speak with looked up, stiffening upon seeing her. Her eyes blinked, recognizing another male in front of her. Her mouth opened and closed.

“Oh.” The young Shinigami standing in front of her let his eyes blink, not at all bothered by what was going on. “You’re the young Quincy who was brought into the fourth division and couldn’t move for days. How are you feeling?”

“You’re the weird one.” Bambietta’s tongue clicked at the roof of her tongue, attempting to _remember_ the name of the young Shinigami, something she normally didn’t care to do regarding the opposite sex, yet her mind clearly remembered how he treated her back in the fourth division, helping see to her care and treating her – well, like a person.

“Ah, thanks I guess?” The young Shinigami blinked, “I…”

She noticed his eyes focused on the Shinigami she followed out, who now went back to burying his head in his knees. She found her tongue tight, unsure of what she should say when the other young Shinigami. The Shinigami who asked how she felt stepped forward, kneeling down beside him, his hand reaching out.

Only, the other Shinigami slapped it away.

The one who followed them out turned towards her. “Apologies. Hitsugaya Taicho normally isn’t like this.”

Bambietta’s eyes opened and closed. “He’s a taicho?”

“Yes? You didn’t know that?”

“I, uh…”

“Don’t talk about me as if I’m not here Hanataro.”

Hanataro’s attention turned back to the young taicho, the corner of his mouth turning up. “You must really not be feeling that great, what if you’re referring to me by my first name and not my last.”

“I’m fine.” The small taicho’s arms tightened around his small body. “So leave me alone.”

The other young Shinigami took a deep breath. “Look. Just promise me you’ll talk to someone if you need to about whatever is bothering you? It doesn’t have to be me. It could be Ichigo.”

“Him?” The small taicho let out a deep breath, almost as if seeming unsure about doing so.

“Please?”

“Fine.”

“Anyways, I’ll check in on you in a bit. Rangiku-san wouldn’t be pleased if I didn’t right?”

The small taicho let out a deep breath. “Fine. Now go away.”

“I’m leaving. I’m leaving.” The other Shinigami stood up, leaving. He gave her a look indicating she might want to leave, almost begging her not to do anything, the worry all too obvious. She of course couldn’t leave.

Then, he looked up at her with his bright teal eyes. “What?”

“I’m sorry.” The words blurted out, but she regretted how she opened up a conversation with him the moment the words did.

He took a deep breath. “Look. You don’t owe me any kind of apology. I mean…”

“I didn’t protect you though, did I?”

One of his light eyebrows shot up, his eyes focusing on her. “Excuse me?”

“Well, I, uh…” She found herself twiddling her fingers.

His body started to relax slightly; his eyes focused on her. “I really don’t get why you’re apologizing for something as dumb as that.”

“It’s not dumb!”

“Do you have some kind of hero complex like Kurosaki does?”

“This has nothing to do with that stupid Quincy-Shinigami hybrid.”

“Quincy-Shinigami…” His head turned, almost as if his thoughts wandering. He shook his head. “Despite the fact…” His bright teal eyes closed, his head leaning back. “Look. You shouldn’t be apologizing for not protecting me. You’re a Quincy and I’m a Shinigami.”

“But Gigi…”

“You’re not at fault for what she did, but if I recollect you were just as much not in control as I was at the time.” He let out a sigh, one thin boney hand reaching up to ruffle the top of his head. “I mean, we’re enemies – were, so…”

“But you’re my brother.” Bambietta’s lips pushed together. “ _Come on Basterbine. This could so have gone so much better than it did._ ”

He looked at her, obviously contemplating her outburst, yet she couldn’t blame him for not believing her. After all, she didn’t have any proof of the matter. However, he then said, “But you don’t look like him.”

Her eyes blinked. “Wow. I was half expecting you to say something like, ‘ _no, I died and came to soul society_ ’, or something like that.”

“If I hadn’t…” His mouth tightened and for a few moments, his head rested on his knees. He then lifted his head, looking at her. “You do though look like her.”

“I. You seem to know something I don’t.”

“Perhaps.” He looked so tired, his eyes indicating a person-way beyond his years. “So, um…”

“I’m really…”

“You can’t tell Rangiku. What happened to us.”

“Who?”

“She’s my fukutaicho.” Her mouth wrinkled slightly, not liking the idea that his attention in this conversation focused on some women she didn’t know. “Our _mother_.”

“What?” Her violet eyes blinked. “Why do you…”

“Because she would _never_ forgive herself just like you’re not forgiving yourself right now.” His words made her swallow sharply. “Which of them has the Quincy blood?”

“What?” Her mind knew exactly what he was indicating, something nobody ever discussed as it was an off-limits topic. “I’m a Quincy! I am not a Shinigami!”

“Says the person talking to her brother who is obviously a Shinigami. Seems Kurosaki does have something to do with this, given that he’s like us, right?”

“That…” Her mind mused over the idea, her head tilting ever so slightly. “He’s like us? I guess…” She glanced away. “Both of them. Both of them are. It’s not something we talk about.” Her mind though wondered back to something she said and what he’d not. “Hold on. You didn’t argue you died and came to soul society. I would have thought…”

She bit her lip slightly, her hands clenching together. He let out a sigh, looking away. “That’s what happens when you end up mastering your abilities to the point that your adult self ends up unlocked so you can use said power to it’s fullest ability.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I look like him. I couldn’t continue lying to myself after that. It stinks because I already hated the way I look enough as it is.”

“You don’t…”

“He…” His mouth clamped shut. “Could we possibly not talk about him? At least not…”

“Basterbine.” The sound of Candice’s voice made Bambietta freeze, her eyes darting over. The girl hissed at her. “What’s taking you so long?” The girl – her biological aunt, stepped out. “I get the fact you’re not used to actually…”

“Shut up! I told you that you were misunderstanding the whole thing!”

“Miss…” Candice took a deep breath, placing her hands on the hip. “What could I…”

“You’re also related to her, aren’t you?”

“What?” Candice flinched, looking him in the eye. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“My fukutaicho.”

“What…” Her eyes closed while Bambeitta felt her heart pound in her chest, the corners of her mouth twisting into a grimace. Candice turned and glared at Bambietta. “Okay. What kind of stuff have you been feeling his head with?”

“Nothing. I…”

“That’s not how you get a boyfriend.”

Bambietta felt like honestly blowing something up, her hands clenching as well as her teeth. “I told you…”

“We were both zombified. That’s it.”

Bambietta’s eyes blinked, unsure if she should feel hurt by the fact he said _that_ was it. Candice’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not just it. Bambietta isn’t the type of person to approach a guy for a reason like that.”

“His mother’s – I mean his fukutaicho…” Bambietta bit her tongue. “His fukutaicho is my mother, _you’re_ sister.”

“That’s why you wanted to approach him?”

“Yes.”

“That hussy…”

“She is not a hussy!” His hands clenched. “And don’t you _dare_ go after her.”

“Yeah. Don’t you dare!”

“Bambi, you hate your mother as much…” Her eyes narrowed, then widened, a hand covering her mouth. She then lowered it. “Why didn’t I see it before. You’re…”

“Her twin.”

“In other words, you weren’t avoiding saying it?” Bambietta felt relieved.

“What the hell!”

Bamietta felt her entire body tense up. Her brother let out a sigh. “That’s actually what I was trying to avoid. I wish I hadn’t…”

“No. No!” Candice lifted up her hands, closing her eyes. “You look too much like that bastard to…”

“Hey!”

“Hey what? Both of your parents are stinkers, Bambi. It’s why I don’t like them, and I don’t like Bazz-B because he’s an ass hole.”

“Wait? That person’s also related to me?” His words choked out.

“Well, it does explain why he hauled you back.”

“He let me be touched by that person.”

“By…” Candice paused. “Gigi.” The color drained from her face. “You’re talking about Gigi?” Her hand reached out for his chin, only to be slapped away.

“Don’t touch me!”

“What the…”

“You’re not the only one he’s reacted that way to.”

“Still…”

“This is Gigi we’re talking about. You _know_ how Gigi is.”

“Are you _trying_ to get on my case for not doing something back then? You know as well as I that if we turned on Juha… _”_ She stopped speaking, both her and Bambietta hearing Toshiro slide back to the ground, his hands covering his ears and his head burring into his knees. “Oh, god.” Candice then did something unexpected, going and sitting down a foot away from him against the wall. “Gigi really did a number on you, didn’t she?”

“She?” He muttered.

“Oh – yeah, that. I’m not sure how to put _that_ one.”

“I’m not into guys. I’m not.”

Bambietta decided to do what Candice did, but on the other side, unsure of what to say or do; so far, she felt as if she’d put her foot into it.

“Yeah. I definitely am. Like, big time. I like sex a lot.”

“Candice.” Bambietta hissed. “I don’t think…”

“Let him hear me out.” Candice took a deep breath. “I have a lot of experience with sex, so when it is actually consensual between the two people it’s a pretty awesome thing. Don’t let something like this ruin the possibility of having a relationship with a girl you like, but more important – if she can’t look past this, she’s not worth your time. It’s not your fault, any of it.” Candice looked Bambietta in the eye. “You’re either Bambi. Gigi didn’t…”

“Gigi wouldn’t want to risk getting someone pregnant.”

“But still…”

Bambietta tilted her head towards her brother, who she didn’t yet know the name of.

“Right.”

“Don’t tell Rangiku. Please.”

“Rangiku.”

“My fukutaicho.”

“My sister.” Candice of course took quite a bit of venom in her voice.

“She’d…” Toshiro unburied his head. “Look. I get the fact you don’t like her for some reason, but… she doesn’t know.”

“Know?”

“That I’m her child. That she and he – that they even had that kind of relationship, I think. I mean, I think there are missing pieces.”

“What does this have anything to do with anything kiddo.”

“I’m not…” His tongue clicked, obviously not liking being called a child, yet he pushed it aside. “She didn’t know what our relationship is, yet she still ended up finding me and if she hadn’t I’d be dead a long time ago. She’s also taken care of me, almost like it’s an instinct for her. I’ve gotten on her case – not recently since I realized, but…”

“Okay. Okay. I promise not to go after her despite the fact I absolutely loath her. Okay.”

He of course didn’t say anything.

“So, what’s your name?”

“Hitsugaya Taicho.”

Bambietta’s mouth pushed together, unsure of how Candice would react. “Wait? You’re a taicho? Also, that’s not your name.” He didn’t look Candice in the eye. “Hey, look at me.”

Her hand reached out for his chin, only to be slapped away. “Don’t touch me!”

Bambietta felt her stomach lurch, seeing the look in her eyes. “I – you’re not the only one he reacted that way to.” She didn’t like how he trembled, almost as if fearing she would hurt him. “He did the same to Hana-chan.”

“Hana-chan? Whose this Hana-chan? When did she make friends with…”

“He, and we’re not friends.”

Candice’s eyes blinked. “Oh. You like him?”

“He’s nice.” Her brother muttered.

“He is his friend.”

“Yeah, but…”

“He took care of me after I got hurt.”

“That’s the job of the fourth,” her brother muttered.

“He didn’t care I was a Quincy.”

A laugh suddenly escaped his lips, but it felt as if he were going mad. Candice let out a sigh. “What’s so funny?”

“I just…” The corners of his mouth twisted up. “Yamada is one of the few members outside of the fukutaicho and third seat who will actually go and heal up members of the eleventh division.”

“And?”

“A lot of people are scared of them.”

“I’m not.”

“You…” He of course seemed to find this amusing, but his laughing slowed.

“You’re really a taicho?” One of Candice’s eyebrows shot up.

“That’s a joke.” He let out a scoff. “I mean, I should have been able to protect her.”

“Who? Bambi-chan?”

“No. Matsumoto. My fukutaicho. I couldn’t do anything.”

“You’re her twin though.”

“What…”

“It actually makes sense that you would be a taicho, given how powerful she is.”

Bambietta watched him look at her. She didn’t know what to say.

“How about we walk with you back to your division? Pass if off as making friends between the two groups?”

“Why…”

“Well, I think Bambi might want to see what her mother’s like.”

“Yeah. No.” He shook his head as if amused by something.

“And I want to see how she’s changed.”

“She’s…” He titled his head. “She’s kind of a – despite the fact she did save me back then and does take care of me – she’s lazy, a flirt, and a lot of trouble.”

“That…” Candice pondered it over. “You know. That just makes me want to see her even more.” Her hand reached out to ruffle his hair, only to stop, remembering how he’d batted his hand away. “Things will get better. I mean, I’ve not been in a similar situation, but – you shouldn’t let it define you. So, let’s decide how all of this is going to define us.” She stood up. “Well, are you two coming?”

Bambietta looked at her twin, but he didn’t seem to have an argument why they shouldn’t either.


End file.
